Round Up - Midweek games of 28th March 2016

Monday, 28 March 2016
League 1
Port Vale 0-1 Barnsley
Conor Hourihane's tenth goal of this season was also the fortieth goal of his career 

Millwall 2-0 Burton Albion
Aiden O'Brien scored his twelfth goal of the season, more than two months after his last strike in January

League 2
Barnet 2-1 Luton
Graham Stack's start for Barnet was his first appearance in the starting XI since August
Alan Sheehan's was booked for the fifth time this season

Notts County 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers
Graham Burke started his first game since 2nd January

Tuesday, 29 March 2016
International Friendly
Republic of Ireland 2-2 Slovakia
Paul McShane returned to the starting XI for his first start since June 2013.
The friendly was Robert Elliot, Alex Pearce and Anthony Pilkington's first appearance for Ireland since November 2014, and Elliot's first start since May 2014. We wish Elliot a speedy recovery from his knee injury
John O'Shea made his 110th appearance for Ireland, this was also the defender's 60th home start for Ireland, while Aiden McGeady and Glenn Whelan earned their 80th and 70th caps, respectively. At the other end of the appearance scale, Eunan O'Kane's second cap was his first start for Ireland
Shane Longs penalty was his fifteenth goal for Ireland, while James McClean's strike from 12 yards was his fifth goal for Ireland

Further Reading
The Eamon Dunphy Interview: 'I wanted to tell the story of the life of an ordinary footballer' - Irish Examiner
Jason Denayer and Jack Byrne have thrived on loan - but will it help them at Manchester City? - Manchester Evening News
Ciaran Clark in the FIFA 2016 Team of the Week

#TOTW 29 available now! https://t.co/7WATqjwXOJ #FUT pic.twitter.com/OS73rmi3hh

— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) March 30, 2016

Round Up - Weekend of 25th March 2016

Friday, 25 March 2016
League 1
Rochdale 4-1 Southend United
Joe Rafferty scored his first goal of the season, more than a year after his last strike in February 2015

Shrewsbury 1-1 Port Vale
Sam Kelly made his twenty-fifth appearance for Port Vale in his first start since 23rd January

League 2
Oxford United 1-1 Stevenage
After signing for Stevenage on loan during the week, Keith Keane went straight into their starting XI for his first start since early February

Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 Mansfield Town
Michael Harriman's winner for Wycombe was the tenth goal of the midfielder's career, coming 101 days after his last goal in December

York City 2-2 Crawley
Liam McAlinden scored his first goal for Crawley Town, in only his third appearance for them. Prior to this, the Wolves loanee hadn't scored since September

International Friendly
Republic of Ireland 1-0 Switzerland
Congratulations to Alan Judge, Eunan O'Kane and Jonathan Hayes on making their senior international debuts in this game!
Ciaran Clarke scored his second goal for Ireland, more than three years after his first international goal in February 2013
Kevin Doyle made his first appearance for Ireland since October 2014, and his first start since September 2014. We wish him well in his recovery
This was both David Meyler and Stephen Quinn's first time starting for Ireland since November 2014
After his start against Costa Rica in Philadelphia in June 2014, Shane Duffy had to wait more than 600 days for his second international cap!
This game was also Shane Long's sixtieth, Daryl Murphy's twentieth, and James McCarthy's twentieth home cap for Ireland

Saturday, 26 March 2016
League 1
Bradford City 1-0 Millwall
Shaun Williams and Aiden O'Brien both returned to the Millwall starting XI for their first starts since 13th February and 16th February, respectively
Congratulations to U19 midfielder Kyron Farrell on making the matchday squad for the Lions for the first time!

Chesterfield 0-0 Fleetwood
Jimmy Ryan picked up his tenth booking of the season, more than two months after his last yellow card on 9th January

Australian A-League
Newcastle Jets 1-2 Perth Glory
Andy Keogh's goal in this games was his ninth goal in his last nine games was also his twenty-fifth goal for Perth Glory!

Sunday, 27 March 2016

Australian A-League
Adelaide United 4-2 Central Coast Mariners
Roy O'Donovan's brace in this game was his third goal in four games since returning from suspension

Further Reading
Shane Long relishing Euro 2016 encore with Republic of Ireland - The Guardian
Denise O’Sullivan: ‘When I told him about Houston Dash he was over the moon’ - The Irish Times
Kieron Brady: The former teenage sensation at Sunderland striving for equality - The Northern Echo

Round Up - Weekend of 19th March 2016

Saturday, 19 March 2016
Premier League
West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Norwich
Robbie Brady scored his fourth goal of the season, more than a month after his last goal for Norwich

Watford 1-2 Stoke City
Jonathan Walters scored his eighth goal of the season, more than two months since his last goal in January, and picked up his fourth booking of the season

Championship
Derby County 1-0 Nottingham Forest
Richard Keogh was shown his sixth yellow card in 2015/16, two months after his last card

Brentford 0-1 Blackburn
Shane Duffy scored his third goal of the season, previous to 2015/16 the defender had not scored more than once in a season

Burnley 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Stephen Ward was booked for the first time this season, having not been booked since November 2014!

Ipswich 0-1 Rotherham
Leon Best's winner in this game was the first time the striker had scored in consecutive games since March 2014

Preston North End 1-1 QPR
Eoin Doyle scored the sixtieth goal since moving to the UK, more than two months after his 59th

League 1
Bury 2-2 Shrewsbury
After signing for Bury on loan during the week, Cian Bolger made his first start for the club and was shown his seventh yellow card this season

Scunthorpe 1-1 Chesterfield
Paddy Madden scored his twentieth goal of the season

Walsall 2-1 Colchester
Liam Kinsella returned to the Walsall starting XI, having not started for the Saddlers since 12th January

League 2
AFC Wimbledon 2-1 York City
In his second appearance for AFC Wimbledon, Rhys Murphy scored his first goal for the club, this was his thirteenth goal of the season, more than two months after his last goal

Barnet 0-3 Oxford United
The first goal of Callum O'Dowda's brace (the first of his career) in this game was his tenth goal for Oxford

Crawley 0-0 Hartlepool
Jake Carroll was booked for the fifth time this season

Leyton Orient 1-0 Morecambe
Barry Roche was sent off for the second time in his career, coincidentally the last time he was shown a red card was also in March, in 2013

Mansfield Town 1-1 Portsmouth
Enda Stevens made his one hundredth start in England since leaving Shamrock Rovers

Plymouth 0-1 Luton
After signing for Luton on loan this week, Glen Rea made his first start for the club and was shown his second yellow card of the season

Scottish First Division
Raith 2-1 Hibernian
Anthony Stokes scored his fifth goal of the season, this was also his thirtieth goal for Hibernian across his two spells with the club

Australian A-League
Central Coast Mariners 2-2 Sydney
Roy O'Donovan scored his fifth goal of the season, having not scored since 12th December

Cypriot Premier League
Nea Salamis 1-2 Omonia Nicosia
Cillian Sheridan scored his fourth goal in his last five games

Sunday, 20 March 2016
Australian A-League
Wellington Phoenix 1-2 Perth Glory
Andy Keogh scored in his sixth consecutive game for Perth Glory

Further Reading
Richard Dunne: What's it like to captain a derby - mcfc.co.uk
Damien Duff: The Street Football - Graham Hunter
Seamus Coleman interview: Home is where the heart is for Everton man - The Irish Times
Glenn Whelan: 300 - stokecityfc.com

Round Up - Midweek games of 15th March 2016

Tuesday, 15 March 2016
Championship
Ipswich 2-0 Blackburn
Daryl Murphy marked his 33rd birthday with his ninth and tenth goals of the season. In the same game, Jonathan Douglas was booked for the seventh time this season, more than two months after his last yellow card

League 1
Fleetwood 0-1 Walsall
Liam Kinsella came off the bench to make his first appearance for Walsall since the middle of January

League 2
Oxford United 4-0 Dagenham and Redbridge
Callum O'Dowda's start this evening for Oxford in this game was his one hundredth appearance for the club

Wednesday, 16 March 2016
League 2
Accrington Stanley 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers
Seamus Conneely made his fiftieth start for Accrington Stanley

Scottish FA Cup
Inverness CT 1-2 Hibernian
Richie Foran's start for Inverness Caledonian Thistle in this game was his 200th appearance for the club, having not started a game for them in almost two years due to injury
Anthony Stokes's brace in this game doubled his total for the season, and it was the Celtic striker's first time scoring twice in the same game since October 2014

Further Reading
'If Leicester can do it...' - The triumph of little over large - Liam Mackey

Round Up - Weekend of 12th March 2016

Saturday, 12 March 2016
Premier League
Stoke City 1-2 Southampton
Glenn Whelan's 300th appearance for Stoke City was spoiled by Southampton's win this afternoon - but congratulations Glenn!

Championship
Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Leeds
Republic of Ireland U21 goalkeeper Eric Grimes made his first appearance in the Leeds matchday squad as an unused substitute - congratulations Eric!

Huddersfield 1-3 Burnley
Following his return to action midweek, Sean Scannell made his first start since early January for Huddersfield, but the occasion was spoiled by Stephen Ward's fifteenth goal in the UK

Nottingham Forest 0-3 Sheffield Wednesday
Aiden McGeady scored his first goal of the season, almost 19 months after his last club goal in August 2014!

QPR 3-0 Brentford
After recovering from a calf injury, Alan McCormack returned to the Brentford starting XI for the first time since 9th January

Rotherham 3-3 Derby County
After two substitute appearances in Rotherham's last two games, Stephen Kelly made his first start for the club since mid-December. Leon Best scored his first two goals for Rotherham since signing for them, previous to this the striker hadn't scored since April 2014, and hadn't scored a brace since August 2011!

League 1
Barnsley 0-2 Southend United
Michael Timlin's goal this afternoon was the the twentieth goal of his career, he had to wait a long time for it, having not scored since the end of September!

Colchester 3-3 Wigan
U17 midfielder Louis Dunne came off the bench to make his debut for Colchester, becoming the sixth father and son to play for the U's

Shrewsbury 2-2 Scunthorpe
Paddy Madden scored his 19th goal, and was booked for the sixth time in 2015/16. This was the second time this season the striker found the back of the net and was shown a yellow card in the same game, having also done managed the feat in September!

League 2
Hartlepool 3-1 Dagenham and Redbridge
Jake Carroll scored his first goal for Hartlepool, having gone more than two years since scoring his last goal in February 2014!

Luton 0-1 Crawley
Having signing for Crawley Town on loan during the week, Liam McAlinden  went straight into the starting XI for his first start since late December, but unfortunately marked his debut with his first booking since early December

Morecambe 2-1 AFC Wimbledon
Similarly to McAlinden, Rhys Murphy signed for AFC Wimbledon during the week and went straight into the starting XI for the Dons. His fellow Irish underage international Ryan Sweeney was sent off for the first time in his career in the same game

Northampton 1-1 Cambridge United
James Collins was booked for the fifth time this season

York City 1-1 Barnet
Kenneth McEvoy made his twenty-fifth career appearance

Scottish Premier League
Inverness CT 0-1 Hamilton Academical
Richie Foran came off the bench to make his first appearance for Inverness in almost two months

Scottish First Division
Dumbarton 1-1 Falkirk
After being released by Queen of the South in January, Paul Heffernan signed for Dumbarton on Friday and came off the bench to make his debut.

English FA Cup
Everton 2-0 Chelsea
Seamus Coleman made his two hundredth start in England in this win for Everton

Sunday, 13 March 2016
Scottish League Cup
Hibernian 1-2 Ross County
Anthony Stokes' two hundred fiftieth career start came in this loss in the Scottish League Cup Final

MLS
Colorado Rapids 1-0 LA Galaxy
Kevin Doyle was booked for the first time this season

Eredivisie
Heracles 3-1 Cambuur
Jack Byrne's strike this afternoon was the first time the midfielder has scored, but Cambuur have not gone on to win the game, having picked up three points in both games he scored previous to this

Further Reading
It's just business, nothing personal - Ewan McKenna
Damien Duff: I don't want to turn into Kim Kardashian! - The Irish Times 
Cillian Sheridan walking away from excuses and scoring lots of goals - Irish Examiner
Leicester City’s Rise was Stockport County’s Fall - Leon McSweeney
Profile: Exeter City and former Birmingham striker Clinton Morrison - The Football League Paper
Irish Foxes: Former Leicester duo David Connolly and Dave Langan on their time at the club - The Irish Post

Round Up - Midweek games 8th March 2016

Tuesday, 8 March 2016
Championship
Huddersfield 3-1 Reading
Sean Scannell came off the bench to make his first appearance for Huddersfield since suffering a knee injury in early January
U17 midfielder Josh Barrett came off the bench to make his professional debut - congratulations Josh!

Rotherham 1-0 Middlesbrough
Lee Frecklington scored his third goal of the season, this was the midfielder's first goal since 19th December

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 Bristol City
Matt Doherty scored his second of the season, this is the first time the defender scored more than once since the 2012/13 season!

League 1
Bradford City 2-0 Burton Albion
Damien McCrory was booked for the fifth time this season

League 2
Accrington Stanley 1-3 Portsmouth
Michael Doyle scored his first goal for Portsmouth, more than a year since his last goal in February 2015

The performances of Frecklington, Doherty and Doyle led to their inclusion in the Football League's midweek team selection

TEAM OF MIDWEEK: Here's a selection of the stand-out performers from the midweek action >> https://t.co/fJHoTzRspM. pic.twitter.com/ihW4TnWFNV

— The Football League (@football_league) March 9, 2016

Further Reading
Stand In The Place Where You Love - liverpooletc.com
McPhail fears for next generation of Irish players - Irish Independent
Evan’s Burning ambition to Galvin-ise Cobh Ramblers towards top flight of Irish football - leagueofireland.ie
McGregor's defeat puts UFC on brink of mainstream - Philip O'Connor

Round Up - Weekend of 4th March 2016

Saturday, 5 March 2016
Premier League
Swansea 1-0 Norwich
Robbie Brady was booked for the third time this season, almost three months since his last booking in December.

Chelsea 1-1 Stoke City
Glenn Whelan was booked for the fifth time in 2015/16, almost exactly four months to the day since his last booking in November

Championship
Brentford 1-2 Charlton
Alan Judge was booked for the third time this season, having not been booked since two bookings in consecutive games in September

Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Rotherham
Stephen Kelly returned to the Rotherham team with a late second half substitute appearance. Previous to this the defender hadn't appeared for the Millers since mid December

League 1
Bury 0-0 Bradford City
In a similar manner to Alan Judge, Josh Cullen was shown his first yellow card since August, when he was likewise booked in two consecutive games

Coventry 0-1 Rochdale
Donal McDermott returned from injury for Rochdale to make his first start since 23rd January

Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Burton Albion
Callum Reilly's start for Burton this afternoon (his first since 23rd January) was the midfielder's fiftieth career start

Fleetwood Town 2-2 Sheffield United
U19 defender Graham Kelly made his first appearance in the Sheffield United matchday squad as an unused substitute

Southend United 0-1 Chesterfield
Cian Bolger start this afternoon for Southend was his fiftieth start for the club

Wigan 1-1 Peterborough
Chris McCann was booked for the tenth time this season

League 2
Mansfield Town 0-1 Yeovil
Kevin Dawson returned to the Yeovil starting XI for the first time since January 2015 and picked up his first booking of the season. The midfielder's last booking came back in November 2014!

Carlisle 1-4 Northampton
John-Joe O'Toole's double takes the midfielder's tally to ten goals for the season

Sunday, 6 March 2016
Australian A-League
Central Coast Mariners 0-2 Melbourne Victory
After serving an eight week suspension, Roy O'Donovan returned to the Central Coast Mariners first team, and received his fourth booking of the season

Cypriot Premier League
Omonia Nicosia 3-0 Anorthosis
Cillian Sheridan scored his fourteenth and fifteenth goals of the season

Eredivisie
Feyenoord 3-1 Cambuur
Jack Byrne's performance in this game led to his inclusion in the Betweters team of the week

Onder meer @JetroWillems_15 @Jackb_8 @Lars_Veldwijk en @AminYounes11 staan in het speelronde 26 elftal. pic.twitter.com/MlC3LGwyWB

— Betweters Live (@betwetersnl) March 7, 2016

Monday, 7 March 2016
MLS
Los Angeles Galaxy 4-1 D.C. United
Robbie Keane opened his account for the 2016 MLS season with a second half penalty for LA Galaxy in their opening game

Australian A-League
Perth Glory 2-0 Newcastle Jets
Andy Keogh scored his fifth goal of the season, in his last six games

Further Reading
Graham Barrett: ‘The time for action in Irish football is now’ - The Irish Times 
Is Tottenham vs. Arsenal the biggest North London derby ever? - espnfc.com
Ex-Newcastle starlet says young Irish footballers are better off staying in Ireland - the42.ie

Round Up - Midweek games of 2nd March 2016

Tuesday, 1 March 2016
Premier League
Aston Villa 1-3 Everton
Ciaran Clark returned to the Aston Villa starting XI for the first time since January, and was shown his sixth yellow card of the season

Championship
Blackburn 2-1 Middlesbrough
Darragh Lenihan was booked for the fifth time in 2015/16

League 1
Bradford City 1-2 Colchester
Owen Garvan was booked for the first time since 9th January, this was the midfielder's sixth booking of the season

Chesterfield 1-1 Blackpool
Jay O'Shea scored his seventh goal of the season, his first goal since 9th January

Oldham 1-1 Port Vale
Sam Foley scored his fifth goal of the season, having not scored since November

Walsall 0-0 Scunthorpe
Anthony Forde made his fiftieth start for Walsall

League 2
Crawley 2-0 Newport Co.
Lanre Oyebanjo made his first appearance of the season for Crawley Town
After signing for Crawley on loan, Frankie Sutherland and Charles Dunne made their first starts for the club, it was the Dunne's first minutes of football since 14th November, while Sutherland had not played since October
Shamir Goodwin scored his second of the season (and second in three games) in his first start since December

Exeter 1-1 Portsmouth
Clinton Morrison made his fiftieth appearance for Exeter as a second half substitute

Northampton 1-1 AFC Wimbledon
John-Joe O'Toole scored his tenth goal for Northampton

Wednesday, 2 March 2016
CONCACAF Champions League
Santos Laguna 4-0 LA Galaxy
Robbie Keane's evening was made even worse with his first booking of the LA Galaxy's season

Thursday, 3 March 2016
Cypriot Premier League
Omonia Nicosia 4-2 AEL
Cillian Sheridan's 25th appearance for Omonia was also his 250th career appearance

Further Reading
Just what the Doc ordered - wolves.co.uk
Team mates - Stephen McLaughlin - www.southendunited.co.uk
The social welfare stars of the League of Ireland - These Football Times

February 2016 Appearance Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for February 2016

Wins
Stephen Ward, Greg Cunningham and Alan Browne all won four games in February

Draws
Three of Keiren Westwood's games ended all squad

Losses
Stephen Henderson and Alan Judge both started four losses in the second month of 2016

Starts/Completed Games
Keiren Westwood, Ian Lawlor, Richard Keogh, Stephen Ward, Greg Cunningham, Cyrus Christie, Matt Doherty, Darragh Lenihan, Jeff Hendrick all started six games. Of these Lawlor, Keogh, Ward, Cunningham, Christie, Doherty and Lenihan went onto complete 90 minutes in each games

Substitutions/Introductions
Aiden McGeady, Stephen Quinn, Anthony Pilkington, Anthony Stokes were all substituted three times in February, the same amount of times Stephen Ireland was introduced

Stayed on bench
Goalkeepers Jack Bonham and Joe Murphy were both unused substitutes for five games in February, while of the outfield players Sean Kavanagh and Derrick Williams both remained on the bench for four games

Goals
Anthony Pilkington, Andy Keogh and Adam Rooney all scored three goals, with Pilkington recording a 100% win ratio when he scored

Discipline
Midfielder Darragh Lenihan and defender Daniel Devine were both shown a yellow card three times to top the bookings table