Irish goalscorers weekend of 27th September 2014

27 September 2014 Sky Bet Championship Brentford 2-0 Leeds United Alan McCormack(77) Cardiff City 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday Anthony Pilkington(61) Ipswich Town 2-0 Rotherham United Daryl Murphy(3) Sky Bet League 1 Bradford City 1-1 Port Vale Mark Yeates(45) Walsall 3-0 Doncaster Rovers Anthony Forde(64) Sky Bet League 2 Exeter City 2-1 Bury Jimmy Keohane(83) Scottish Premiership Aberdeen 3-2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle Adam Rooney(24) Jonathan Hayes(59) Scottish League One Ayr United 2-3 Airdrieonians Peter Murphy(51)

29 September 2014 American MLS League Los Angeles Galaxy 4-0 New York Red Bulls Robbie Keane(8) Robbie Keane(82)

Irish goalscorers week of 23rd September 2014

23 September 2014 Capital One Cup Shrewsbury Town1-0Norwich City James Collins(54) Scottish Communities League Cup Aberdeen4-0Livingston Adam Rooney(61)Adam Rooney(74)Adam Rooney(87) Singapore Cup Home United 1-1 DPMM FC Roy O'Donovan(75)	24 September 2014 Capital One Cup West Bromwich Albion3-2Hull City Robbie Brady(50) FFA Cup St. Albans Saints1-4Perth Glory Andy Keogh(72)
26 September 2014 Singapore Cup DPMM FC 2-3 Home United Roy O'Donovan(5)

Goals VS Premier League sides

Frank Lampard's goal against Chelsea on Sunday means he has now scored against a record 39 Premier League teams, eclipsing Andrew Cole on 38. This led me to research how the strikers in the 37 man squad announced yesterday by Martin O'Neill fared in the top division in England?

Unsurprisingly, Robbie Keane has scored against the most teams in the Premier League from the current squad - 33 in total, including former clubs Aston Villa, Coventry City, Leeds United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, and you can see the records of his fellow strikers in the table below

Player	Teams
Robbie Keane(33)	Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Burnley, Charlton, Chelsea, Coventry, Derby County, Everton, Fulham, Hull City, Ipswich, Leicester, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Newcastle Utd, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, Watford, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wigan, Wimbledon, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Kevin Doyle(22)	Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Burnley, Charlton, Derby County, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle Utd, Portsmouth, QPR, Sheffield United, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham, West Ham United
Shane Long(18)	Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bolton, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle Utd, Norwich, Portsmouth, QPR, Sheffield United, Southampton, Sunderland, Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, Wigan
Jonathan Walters(14)	Arsenal, Blackburn, Bolton, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Newcastle Utd, Norwich, QPR, Sunderland, Swansea, Wigan, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United
Daryl Murphy(4)	Birmingham City, Bolton, Tottenham Hotspur, Wigan
Anthony Stokes(1)	Derby County
Conor Sammon(1)	West Ham United
Simon Cox(1)	Tottenham Hotspur

Of the teams Lampard has failed to score against in the Premier League, Keane has found the net against Burnley, Ipswich and Watford
Bolton Wanderers are the team most Irish strikers have found the net against with Keane, Doyle, Long, Walters and Murphy all scoring against the Trotters in the Premier League

Irish goalscorers weekend of 20th September 2014

20 September 2014 Sky Bet Championship Norwich City2-2Birmingham City Callum Reilly(8) Watford1-1Bournemouth Harry Arter(63) Sky Bet League 1 Doncaster Rovers3-2Chesterfield Eoin Doyle(61) Port Vale2-1Barnsley Conor Hourihane(59, penalty) Sky Bet League 2 Northampton Town4-5Accrington Stanley John O'Sullivan(28)John O'Sullivan(75)Sean Maguire(84) Tranmere Rovers1-2Exeter City Graham Cummins(6) Scottish Premiership Aberdeen3-0Ross County Adam Rooney(20) Scottish League One Morton2-1Dunfermline Athletic Conor Pepper(76)

21 September 2014 American MLS League Los Angeles Galaxy2-1FC Dallas Robbie Keane(62)

22 September 2014 Sky Bet Championship Wigan Athletic1-2Ipswich Town Conor Sammon(63)

Irish Abroad player statistics for August 2014

Appearance data for August 2014: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=8
In the opening month of the 2014/15 season, four wins were all that were needed to top the wins table for Irish players, with David Forde, Alan Dunne, Richard Keogh, Matt Doherty, Alex Pearce, Jeff Hendrick, Andy Reid and Simon Cox all finishing on the winning side four times in August
With the reduced number of games, only two draws were needed to top the draws table, with Keiren Westwood, Darren Randolph, John O'Shea, Richard Keogh, Jonathan Douglas, Alan McCormack, Alan Judge, James McCarthy, Jeff Hendrick, Jay Tabb, Daryl Murphy and Anthony Stokes all starting a pair of games that ended all square
Danny Rogers started all seven of Dumbarton's games in August, along with Championship trio Richard Keogh, Alex Pearce and Jeff Hendrick.
Of these Rogers, Keogh and Pearce completed 90 minutes in each of these
Rogers' loan spell at Dumbarton resulted in four losses for the Dubliner, along with Rotherham's midfielder Lee Frecklington
Anthony Stokes was substituted in four of the six games he started in the first month of Autumn, while fellow striker Leon Best was introduced from the bench six times
Goalkeepers Aaron McCarey, Joe Murphy and Colin Doyle were all unused substitutes five times, while Ian Harte was the most unused substitute of outfield players
Robbie Keane scored three times in August to top the goalscoring charts, resulting in two wins for LA Galaxy, and there's an honourable mention Eoin Doyle who scored five goals in six games for Chesterfield

Irish goalscorers week of 16th September 2014

16 September 2014 Sky Bet Championship Bolton Wanderers3-2Rotherham United Joe Mason(60)Joe Mason(80)Joe Mason(84) Ipswich Town2-0Brighton and Hove Albion Daryl Murphy(88) Reading3-2Millwall Simon Cox(6)Simon Cox(84) Sky Bet League 1 Milton Keynes Dons 1-2Bradford City Billy Clarke(26) Preston North End3-3Chesterfield Alan Browne(7)Eoin Doyle(31)Eoin Doyle(79)Eoin Doyle(90, penalty) Scunthorpe United2-1Coventry City Paddy Madden(38) Sky Bet League 2 Cambridge United1-2Exeter City Graham Cummins(17) Cheltenham Town0-1Southend United Conor Clifford(52) Oxford United3-1Accrington Stanley Michael Collins(36) UEFA Youth League Liverpool4-0Ludogorets Daniel Cleary(38)Alex O'Hanlon(39)

16 September 2014 UEFA Youth League Bayern Munich1-4Manchester City Jack Byrne(26)

18 September 2014 Europa League Everton4-1Wolfsburg Seamus Coleman(45)

Green European Quartets

After Darron Gibson was introduced for Stephen Naismith late in the second half of Everton's Europa League tie against Wolfsburg, to join compatriots Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy and Aiden McGeady on the pitch last night, it marked the first time four Irish players appeared for the same side in a Europa League game, and the first time a quartet of Irish players appeared together in a European game, for an English or Scottish side since August 2012.

After finishing fourth in the Scottish Premier League 2011-12 season, Dundee United qualified for the third round of the Europa League the following season where they faced Dynamo Moscow. The Terrors earned a credible 2-2 draw at Tannadice on August 2nd, with no less than five Irish players in their starting XI - Sean Dillon, Gavin Gunning, Willo Flood, Richie Ryan and Jon Daly -  but unfortunately were trounced 5-0 in Arena Khimki a week later where Gunning, Flood, Ryan and Daly started for Dundee United, with compatriot Patrick Barrett on the substitutes bench.

For the last time four Irish players appeared for an English club in European competition, we have to go back more than twelve months before Dundee United's games to July 2011 when Stoke City faced Croatian side Hadjuk Split. Marc Wilson, Glenn Whelan, Rory Delap and Jonathan Walters all lined out for the Potters, with Walters scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win.

With all four of Everton's Irish players seemingly in the forefront of Roberto Martinez's thoughts, let's hope we're not waiting at least another twelve months before four of Martin O'Neill's men are playing a European tie together!

Consecutive trebles

After Eoin Doyle scored his second hat trick in consecutive games for Chesterfield, a feat never before recorded for the club (according to wikipedia anyway!), we here at Irish Abroad towers wondered who was the last Irish player to record consecutive hat tricks?

Looking through the IA database we discovered that, in the history of the site, only one player has ever matched the Spireites' striker's achievement - while on loan from Arsenal to Falkirk, Anthony Stokes scored three in a 5-1 home win against Dundee on Saturday, 28 October 2006 before going on to notch a second treble a week later in a 3-0 win over Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park.

An honourable mention must go to Kevin Doyle who scored hat tricks in consecutive home games at the Madejski Stadium for Reading in 2008, first in a 4-2 win against Crystal Palace on Saturday, 30th August, which preceded another treble in an even more impressive 6-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday, 16 September. A 2-0 loss away to Ipswich, including a goal for fellow Ireland striker Jonathan Walters, split the home wins for the Royals.

A Pair Of Trebles

Eoin Doyle and Joe Mason both notched hat tricks last night, for Chesterfield and Bolton Wanderers respectively. While hat tricks for Irish players are not uncommon, two on the same day is a rare occurance. The last time two Irish players scored hat tricks on the same day was Saturday, 30th August 2008. Kevin Doyle scored three in the second half, including two in two minutes, as Reading came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 4-2 at the Madejski Stadium in the Championship, while Billy Clarke notched four goals for Darlington in a 6-0 win over Macclesfield in League Two.

Fans of Irish football did not have long to wait from the previous time a pair of boys in green had scored hat tricks, as only four days earlier, Dubliner Jon Daly and former U21 striker Billy Mehmet both scored three in the Scottish League Cup for Dundee United against Cowdenbeath and St Mirren against Dumbarton!

Here's hoping we're only waiting four days to the next pair of trebles!

Irish goalscorers weekend of 13th September 2014

13 September 2014 Sky Bet Championship Brentford3-2Brighton and Hove Albion Jonathan Douglas(55) Cardiff City2-4Norwich City Wes Hoolahan(58) Ipswich Town2-0Millwall Daryl Murphy(63) Sky Bet League 1 Barnsley3-5Milton Keynes Dons Samir Carruthers(45)Conor Hourihane(82)Conor Hourihane(87) Chesterfield4-1Scunthorpe United Paddy Madden(46)Eoin Doyle(55)Eoin Doyle(64)Eoin Doyle(72, penalty) Coventry City2-1Yeovil Town Sam Foley(51) Sky Bet League 2 Exeter City1-1Oxford United Graham Cummins(4, penalty) Morecambe2-1Plymouth Argyle Jamie Devitt(83) Southend United2-0Portsmouth Barry Corr(56) Scottish Premiership Kilmarnock2-1St Mirren Mark Connolly(82) Partick Thistle3-1Inverness Caledonian Thistle Aaron Doran(13) Cypriot Premier League APOEL FC1-0Ermis Cillian Sheridan(87)

Talking points

If Conor Hourihane continues his scoring streak, should he be considered for the senior international side, despite playing at League One level?
Does the same apply to frequent goalscorer Eoin Doyle?
Alex O'Hanlon, Damien Cleary, Corey Whelan and Jack Byrne are in the Liverpool and Manchester City squads for the UEFA Youth League, starting Tuesday, 16th September. Do you see all of these players appearing for the senior international side in future?
Leon Best's goal for Derby against Nottingham Forest was unfortunately awarded to Ryan Shotton, if he returns to fitness, do you see him getting a call up by Martin O'Neil?
With Millwall in the upper reaches of the Championship, should Shaun Williams' be called up, or are there too many players blocking the path of the central midfielder?
Defenders Tommie Hoban and Matt Doherty have been playing regularly for their respective sides near the top of the Championship, with a dearth of options in defence, should the pair be called upon?
North of Hadrian's Wall, Aaron Doran has a reputation for scoring spectacular goals for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, but is the winger facing a similar problem to Shaun Williams - too many established players in his position?
With Celtic having signed John Guidetti and Jo Inge Berget on loan for the season, and Leigh Griffiths already there, should weekend unused substitute Anthony Stokes look for a move to ensure first team football?
Cillian Sheridan will be the only Irish player involved in the Champions League this season, and will make his first appearance at that level this week in the Camp Nou against Barcelona, will we see a return to international football for the Cavan man?

Irish Goalscorers week of 2nd September 2014

02 September 2014 Johnstone's Paint Trophy Notts County2-0Mansfield Town Ronan Murray(28) Fleetwood Town1-3Morecambe Padraig Amond(28)Padraig Amond(80)

06 September 2014 Sky Bet League 1 Bristol City2-0Scunthorpe United Greg Cunningham(83)

Irish football transfers Summer 2014

Since the last season ended, and the transfer window reopened,a number of Irish players have transferred to new clubs. We have been tracking these moves for the last three months and present a list of all completed transfers below:

Jamie Devitt to Morecambe on a two year deal: Report
Sean McGinty to Rochdale AFC on a one year deal: Report
Andy Keogh to Perth Glory on a two year deal: Report
Alan Judge to Brentford on a three year deal: Report
James Collins to Shrewsbury Town on a two year deal: Report
Lanre Oyebanjo to Crawley Town on a two year deal: Report
Stephen Gleeson to Birmingham City on a two year deal: Report
Patrick Kohlmann to Holstein Kiel: Report
Damien Duff to Melbourne City on a one year deal: Report
Gavin Gunning to Birmingham City on a one year deal: Report
Carl McHugh to Plymouth Argyle on a two year deal: Report
Alan Sheehan to Bradford City on a two year deal: Report
Conor Hourihane to Barnsley FC on a three year deal: Report
Conor Pepper to Greenock Morton FC on a one year deal: Report
David Van Zanten to Dumbarton FC on a one year deal: Report
Conor Henderson to Crawley Town on a one year deal: Report
Gary Dicker to Carlisle United on a two year deal: Report
Billy Clarke to Bradford City on a two year deal: Report
John Joe O'Toole to Northampton Town on a three year deal: Report
Paul Green to Rotherham on a two year deal: Report
John Egan to Gillingham FC on a two year deal: Report
James Berrett to Yeovil Town on a two year deal: Report
Liam Lawrence to Shrewsbury Town on a two year deal: Report
Steven Reid to Burnley FC on a one year deal: Report
Keiren Westwood to Sheffield Wednesday on a two year deal: Report
Brendan Moloney to Yeovil Town on a two year deal: Report
Ronan Coughlan to Huddersfield Town academy: Report
Michael Collins to Oxford United on a one year deal: Report
Anton Rodgers to Swindon Town on a one year deal: Report
Sam Byrne to Everton, also Harry Charsley signs professional contract: Report
Kenneth McEvoy to Peterborough on loan until the end of the season: Report
Keith Andrews to Watford on a season long loan: Report
Stephen Henderson to Charlton Athletic on a three year deal: Report
Kevin Feely to Newport County on a two year deal: Report
Joe Murphy to Huddersfield Town on a two year deal:: Report
Mark Connolly to Kilmarnock on a three year deal: Report
Daniel Kearns to Carlisle United on a two year deal: Report
Mark Byrne to Newport County on a six month contract: Report
Alan Maybury to Falkirk as a player-coach on a one year deal: Report
Ben Glasgow to Harlow Town: Report
Leon Best to Derby County on a season long loan: Report
Anthony O’Connor to Plymouth Argyle on loan until January: Report
Samir Carruthers to MK Dons on a three year deal: Report
Keith Treacy to Barnsley on a two year deal: Report
Simon Cox to Reading on a two year deal: Report
Stephen Elliott to Carlisle Unitde on a one year deal: Report
Joe Mason to Bolton Wanderers on a season long loan: Report
Anthony Forde to Walsall FC on a two year deal: Report
Stephen Dawson to Rochdale AFC on a one year deal: Report
David Hutton to Dunstable Town FC: Report
Anthony Pilkington to Cardiff City FC on a three year deal: Report
Conor Sammon to Ipswich town FC on loan until the end of the season: Report
Mark O'Brien to Motherwell FC on loan until January: Report
Patrick Cregg to Shamrock Rovers until the end of the League of Ireland season: Report
Graham Cummins to Exeter City on a one year deal: Report
Stephen Ward to Burnley on a three year deal: Report
Matty Mainwaring to Stalybridge Celtic: Report
Conrad Logan to Rochdale AFC on a one month loan: Report
Gary Deegan to Southend United on a 3 month deal: Report
Rene Gilmartin to Watford FC on a one year deal: Report
Brien Lenihan to Hull City on a three year deal: Report
Jake Carroll to Partick Thistle on loan until January 2015: Report
Tadhg Ryan to Huddesfield Town Academy: Report
Sam Warde to Huddersfield Town Academy: Report
Shane Duffy to Blackburn Rovers on a three year deal: Report
Joe Shaughnessy to Falkirk on loan until January 2015: Report
Kevin Doyle has signed for Crystal Palace on loan until January 2015: Report
Adam McDonnell to Ipswich Town FC on a two year deal: Report

Irish Goalscorers weekend of 30th August 2014

31 August 2014 Barclays Premier League Everton3-6Chelsea Seamus Coleman(67, og) Sky Bet Championship Middlesbrough0-1Reading Simon Cox(7) Watford4-2Huddersfield Town Keith Andrews(68) Sky Bet League 1 Port Vale1-2Chesterfield Eoin Doyle(9) Yeovil Town1-1Barnsley Conor Hourihane(27) Scottish Premiership Inverness Caledonian Thistle2-0Kilmarnock Aaron Doran(75)

01 September 2014 American MLS League Chivas USA0-3Los Angeles Galaxy Robbie Keane(68)

Irish Goalscorers week of 25th August 2014

26 August 2014 Capital One Cup Gillingham0-1Newcastle United John Egan(25, og) UEFA Champions League Qualifying APOEL FC4-0Aalborg BK Cillian Sheridan(75)	27 August 2014 Capital One Cup Stoke City3-0Portsmouth Jonathan Walters(16)Jonathan Walters(47)
28 August 2014 Europa League Qualifying Hull City2-1Lokeren Robbie Brady(6) Robbie Brady(56, penalty)