February 12th
English Championship
It was an all-Irish affair for Preston North End’s first goal against Blackburn Rovers on Friday evening. A cross-field ball from Alan Browne found Greg Cunningham out on the left-wing where he took the ball down and smashed it home from the edge of the box. The game finished 2-1 to Preston, marking their first win in four games.
Indian Super League
Anthony Pilkington assisted East Bengal’s only goal in a 1-1 draw with Hyderabad.
February 13th
English Premier League
Burnley were back to winning ways on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace. Kevin Long and Robbie Brady were both introduced from the bench in the second half.
English Championship
Wycombe Wanderers came from two goals down against Huddersfield Town to win 3-2 with Daryl Horgan assisting Anis Mehmeti for their first of the game.
There was a second consecutive clean sheet for Nottingham Forest. Cyrus Christie kept out Bournemouth’s Shane Long with the game ending 0-0.
Elsewhere there were starts for Scott Hogan and James Collins as Luton Town beat Birmingham City by one goal to nil.
Jason Knight’s Derby County beat Middlesbrough 2-1 to climb to 19th in the league, while it was a tough day at the office for Stoke City and Irish defender Nathan Collins as they were at the wrong end of a 4-1 score line against league leaders Norwich City.
English League One
There is only one place to start in League One and that’s Sunderland. The Mackems put four past fifth placed Doncaster Rovers thanks to Charlie Wyke and his accomplice Aiden McGeady, who delivered the cross for each of the four goals. McGeady has now contributed to 10 goals (two goals and eight assists) in his 12 league starts this campaign. Form worthy of an Ireland call-up?
MK Dons impressed away at second placed Hull City, winning 1-0. Warren O’Hora featured in a defensive back three for the Dons.
Thomas O’Connor started at left midfield for Gillingham in their 3-2 win over Charlton.
English League Two
League Two ‘Player of the Month’ Wes Hoolahan and his Cambridge United side were unable to find the decisive goal in their clash with Southend United. The tie finished all square.
Scottish Premiership
Likewise, there was a goalless draw in the Scottish Premiership fixture between Aberdeen and St. Mirren which showcased six Irish players. Tommie Hoban, Jonny Hayes, Dylan Connolly, Jake Doyle-Hayes, Joe Shaughnessy and Conor McCarthy all started the game.
February 14th
English Premier League
Seamus Coleman returned to the Everton starting eleven after his impressive display midweek against Spurs in the FA Cup. However it was Fulham who looked the form team and a Josh Maja brace meant all three points went home with the Cottagers.
English League One
Lincoln City remain top of the pile in League One in spite of a late equaliser from Accrington Stanley. They are now one point clear of Peterborough United in second. Anthony Scully featured for the final third of the game.
An Irish quartet of Liam Kelly, Anthony Forde, Mark Sykes and Olamide Shodipo were involved in Oxford United’s 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic. A win that now takes them up to seventh the league, just a point behind Sunderland with a game in hand.
Scottish Premiership
Celtic won their fourth consecutive game in the league. Shane Duffy was handed a start in the 2-1 away win over St. Johnstone.
Belgian Pro League
Josh Cullen has now featured for a full ninety minutes in 12 successive games for Anderlecht, the most recent a goalless draw with Cercle Brugge on Sunday.
February 15th
English Premier League
A 3-0 defeat to West Ham may be the least of Sheffield United’s worries after John Egan was stretchered off in the latter stages of the game with a toe injury. Egan will now miss the next eight weeks, ruling him out for Ireland’s World Cup qualifier games in March.
Fellow Irish centre-half Ciaran Clark returned to the Newcastle line-up for Monday evening’s defeat at the hands of Chelsea who have now won five games in a row since Tuchel took over.
February 16th
English Championship
Nathan Collins missed out on Stoke City’s win over Sheffield Wednesday after it was revealed that he has a slight fracture in his foot after coming off injured in the weekend defeat to Norwich City. James McClean got 77 minutes of action.
Jason Knight was also on a winning side as Derby County beat Wycombe 2-1 with Daryl Horgan starting for the home team.
A Luton Town team that included Glen Rea and James Collins shipped two goals without a reply against Mick McCarthy’s Cardiff City, who are on a four game winning streak since the former Republic of Ireland manager took charge.
Preston failed to capitalize on their weekend victory after they lost to Watford 1-0 on Tuesday evening. Alan Browne continues to deputize at right-back while Jayson Molumby started in midfield.
English League One
Peterborough United remain second in the league after beating Gillingham by three goals to one. Jack Taylor featured for Peterborough, coming up against Gillingham’s Thomas O’Connor.
Ronan Curtis and Sean Raggett started in Portsmouth’s defeat to Bristol Rovers while at Ipswich, Troy Parrott, Mark McGuinness and Alan Judge came up against a Northampton team with Peter Kioso at full-back. The game ended in stalemate with the main talking point involving the referee, who appeared to square up to Judge before the confrontation was broken up by players from both sides.
English League Two
There were two Irish goal scorers in League Two on Tuesday, both netting in Bradford City’s clash with Morecambe. John O’Sullivan opened the scoring for Morecambe before Anthony O’Connor drew Bradford level 20 minutes later. Bradford went on to win the game 2-1.
February 17th
English Premier League
With Ben Mee out injured, Kevin Long was handed a rare start in the league for Burnley. Robbie Brady also featured, coming on in the first half before being substituted again in the second half after a series of mishaps including a failed goal-line clearance that led to Fulham’s goal. The bottom of the table clash finished 1-1.
Seamus Coleman was also called upon from the bench in Everton’s game with Manchester City. Unfortunately, the Sligo man could do nothing about City’s first goal as Phil Foden’s shot deflected off him and wrong-footed Jordan Pickford. However, five minutes later it was Coleman’s cross that led to Richarlison bundling the ball home to make it 1-1. Pep Guardiola’s men bagged two more goals in the second half to claim all three points.
English Championship
Millwall move up to 11th in the league after winning their third game on the bounce. Alex Pearce was introduced into the game after 23 minutes to replace the injured Jake Cooper.
Swansea City also made it three wins in a row by beating Nottingham Forest by one goal to nil. Conor Hourihane and Cyrus Christie both featured.
Adam Idah was again a late substitute in Norwich City’s win over Coventry City, while Scott Hogan and Darragh Lenihan both started for their respective teams.
English League Two
The only League Two game of the night saw Mansfield Town host Bolton in a five goal thriller. The points looked wrapped up for Mansfield when Stephen Quinn set up Jamie Reid to make it 2-0 in the 72nd minute. However, a frantic final ten minutes led to three goals for Bolton, the final goal scored by Arthur Gnahoua who was teed up by Eoin Doyle.
English Football League Trophy
Sunderland are through to the Football League Trophy final and are off to Wembley after beating Lincoln City in penalties on Wednesday night. Anthony Scully tapped in a rebound to give Lincoln the lead just after the hour mark. Ten minutes later, it was the McGeady-Wyke combo yet again as Wyke headed in McGeady’s cross to level things up. Neither team could be separated in normal time, with Sunderland coming out on top in the shootout.
February 18th
Europa League
Matt Doherty marked his return to the Spurs lineup with an assist for Gareth Bale in their 4-1 victory over Wolfsberger. Doherty slid Bale through down the right and he chopped back inside and buried his shot into the top corner. Irish youngster Jamie Bowden earned a spot on the Spurs bench.
There was also a place on Leicester’s bench for 19-year-old full-back Shane Flynn in their away game against Slavia Prague.