Round Up - Weekend of 17th March 2017

Friday, 17 March 2017

League 1

Port Vale 2-1 Shrewsbury

Sam Foley scored his first goal of the season, this was the midfielder's first goal in more than a year - he last scored on Saturday, 5 March 2016 against Colchester

Saturday, 18 March 2017

Premier League

Crystal Palace 1-0 Watford

Damien Delaney's appearance off the bench (his first appearance since February 11th) was his 25th appearance of the season

Stoke City 1-2 Chelsea

Jonathan Walters scored his first goal of 2017, 81 days after his last goal on December 27th

Sunderland 0-0 Burnley

John O'Shea, Darron Gibson, Jeff Hendrick and Stephen Ward started this game, making it the first Premier League game this season where four Irish players started the same game
For O'Shea, it was his 200th start for Sunderland

West Ham United 2-3 Leicester City

Darren Randolph made his 25th Premier League appearance

Championship

Blackburn 2-2 Preston North End

Aiden McGeady marked his 25th start for Preston North End with his fifth goal for the club. This was also his fifth goal of the season, the first time the midfielder had managed this since 2012-13 with Spartak Moscow

Wigan 0-2 Aston Villa

Conor Hourihane was booked for the tenth time this season

League 1

Bolton 2-1 Northampton

Brendan Moloney late second half introduction from the bench was his first appearance since November

Bristol Rovers 2-1 Chesterfield

Rory Gaffney scored his 15th goal for the Bristol Rovers in his 25th start of the season

Oxford United 2-1 Scunthorpe

Stephen Dawson made his 150th appearance in League One
Paddy Madden's 70th goal in League One was also his 50th league goal for Scunthorpe

Rochdale 4-1 Gillingham

Conrad Logan returned to the Rochdale starting XI for his first appearance since January 28th

League 2

Luton 1-1 Exeter

Alan Sheehan's yellow card against Exeter was the defender's fifth booking of the season

Plymouth 1-0 Morecambe

Graham Carey's winner was his 25th goal for Plymouth

Stevenage 3-0 Portsmouth

Noel Hunt made his first start of 2017
Eoin Doyle made his 150th start since leaving the League of Ireland

Scottish Premier League

Aberdeen 2-0 Hearts

Jonathan Hayes' goal was his first strike in a month

Motherwell 1-2 St Johnstone

Joe Shaughnessy made his 150th career appearance

Kilmarnock 1-1 Partick Thistle

Adam Barton made his 25th appearance for Partick Thistle
Conor Sammon scored his fifth goal of the season

Scottish Championship

Raith 2-1 Dundee Utd

Willo Flood made his 25th appearance in the Scottish Championship

Sunday, 19 March 2017

League 2

Notts County 1-0 Barnet

Mark Yeates was sent off for the first time in his career

MLS

Colorado Rapids 2-2 Minessota United

Kevin Doyle made his 50th appearance for Colorado Rapids

Round Up - Tuesday, 14 March 2017

Tuesday, 14 March 2017

Championship

Brentford 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers

John Egan was booked for the first time since January 2nd in his 150th career appearance
Matt Doherty scored his fifth goal of the season, a new personal best for the defender

League 1

Bury 3-0 Bristol Rovers

Joe Murphy was booked for the first time this season, more than three years after his last yellow card in January 2014
Rory Gaffney was booked for the first time this year

Coventry 0-2 Southend United

Stephen McLaughlin made his first start of 2017

Gillingham 0-4 Bolton

Mark Byrne made his 25th appearance in League One

Scunthorpe 2-1 Rochdale

Paddy Madden scored his tenth goal of the season
Joe Rafferty was booked for the fifth time this season

Swindon Town 2-4 Sheffield United

Jay O'Shea scored his first goal for the Sheffield United (also his first goal in 2017) in his 200th start since leaving the League of Ireland

Walsall 0-1 Fleetwood

Eoghan O'Connell made his 25th career start
Cian Bolger scored his fifth goal in League One

League 2

Accrington Stanley 5-0 Leyton Orient

Seamus Conneely made his 100th start for Accrington Stanley

Carlisle United 0-0 Luton

Alan Sheehan made his 50th appearance for Luton

Crawley 0-3 Crewe Alexandra

Rhys Murphy made his 25th appearance for Crawley, while Conor Henderson made his 25th start for the club

Round Up - Weekend of 11th March 2017

Saturday, 11 March 2017

Premier League

Everton 3-0 West Bromwich Albion

James McClean returned to the West Brom starting XI for the first time since January 7th

Championship

Cardiff 1-1 Birmingham City

Anthony Pilkington made his first start since January 21st

Leeds United 0-0 QPR

Eunan O'Kane was booked for the fifth time this season

Newcastle Utd 1-3 Fulham

Daryl Murphy scored his fifth goal for Newcastle

Norwich 2-2 Blackburn

Tommy Hoban returned from injury for his first start since October
Wes Hoolahan and Darragh Lenihan were both shown their first yellow card since January 21st

Wigan 0-1 Bristol City

Callum O'Dowda made his 25th appearance in the Championship

League 1

Bristol Rovers 2-0 Southend United

Rory Gaffney scored his first goal of 2017 in his 50th start in England
Stephen McLaughlin came off the bench for his first appearance since New Year's Eve
Simon Cox was booked for the tenth time this season

Chesterfield 1-1 Shrewsbury

Connor Dimaio started his first game in two months

Coventry 0-2 Bradford City

Callum Reilly made his 100th career appearance
Josh Cullen made his 50th appearance in League One

Fleetwood 2-4 Bolton

Cian Bolger made his 150th career appearance

Gillingham 3-2 Scunthorpe

Paddy Madden scored his ninth goal of the season, in his 200th start in England
Mark Byrne was booked for the fifth time in 2016/17

Port Vale 3-2 Swindon Town

Olamide Shodipo started his first game in a month
Sam Kelly made his 50th career appearance

League 2

Barnet 2-2 Crawley

Rhys Murphy's first goal of 2017 was also his tenth goal for Crawley, and his 25th goal in League Two
Conor Henderson was booked for the first time this season

Colchester 0-4 Portsmouth

Michael Doyle scored his first goal of the season, before this the midfielder hadn't found the back of the net since April 2016
In the same game, Eoin Doyle scored his fifth goal of the season

Exeter 0-2 Accrington Stanley

Pierce Sweeney was booked for the first time in 2017 (his fifth of 2016/17) in his first start since the end of November

Leyton Orient 0-3 Grimsby

Michael Collins was booked for the fifth time this season

Morecambe 1-3 Yeovil

Kevin Dawson made his 100th start for Yeovil

Scottish Premier League

Aberdeen 1-0 Motherwell

Anthony O'Connor made his first start of 2017
Carl McHugh made his 150th career appearance

Ross County 1-2 Kilmarnock

Aaron McCarey started his first game July, this was also the goalkeeper's first appearance November
Conor Sammon scored his 20th goal in the SPL

Australian A-League

Melbourne Victory 4-1 Perth Glory

Andy Keogh was booked for the first time since January 5th

Polish Ekstraklasa

Jagiellonia Białystok 4-1 Korona Kielce

Cillian Sheridan was shown his first booking since July 14th

Sunday, 12 March 2017

Premier League

Liverpool 2-1 Burnley

Jeff Hendrick made his 25th appearance for Burnley

MLS

Minnesota United 1-6 Atlanta United

Chris McCann made his first appearance for Atlanta United, 71 days after his last appearance, on loan at Coventry

Republic of Ireland V Wales - Friday, 24th March 2017 - FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifier - Squad predictions

On Friday week, Martin O'Neill's team will take to the pitch at AVIVA Stadium, 132 days after their last game against Austria in Vienna. According to reports, the manager will name his squad for the qualifier, and the friendly against Iceland on the following Tuesday, tomorrow. With that in mind, we've examined the appearance details for Irish players to predict the squad.

Goalkeepers
Kieren Westwood, Darren Randolph, Ian Lawlor.
Pretty straightforward choices here. Westwood and Randolph have been squad stalwarts for O'Neill since he took over, with Randolph likely to start the qualifier and Westwood looking to add to his caps in the friendly. We've added Ian Lawlor as the third choice keeper with an eye to the future. The former Manchester City trainee has slotted straight into the Doncaster first team since signing for them in January, keeping four clean sheet in his eleven appearances to date for Donny, and should be playing League One football next season.

Defenders
Stephen Ward, Greg Cunningham, Ciaran Clark, Richard Keogh, Paul McShane, John O'Shea, Seamus Coleman, Cyrus Christie
After some excellent performances in Preston North End's defence, Greg Cunningham should be looking forward to another call up to one of Martin O'Neill's squads and possibly his first cap since 2013. Cyrus Christie has returned from injury successfully for Derby and is unfortunate to find himself vying for the same position as the form full back in the Premier League, and Ireland captain, Seamus Coleman.

Midfielders
Jonathan Hayes, Daryl Horgan, Harry Arter, Jeff Hendrick, Glenn Whelan, James McCarthy, Aiden McGeady, James McClean, Wes Hoolahan, Robbie Brady (suspended for Wales)
Hayes currently tops the SPL assists chart with nine of his passes resulting in goals, three more than the closest challenger (although some sites do credit St Johnstone's Dan Swanson with seven assists). Horgan has taken to the Championship like a duck to water with two goals and three assists in his eleven appearances for Preston so far. Aiden McGeady is in excellent form, and is the current Championship Player of the Month.

Strikers
Jonathan Walters, Shane Long, Daryl Murphy, Adam Rooney
We would also like to see the manager examine the nascent League of Ireland season,where Sean Maguire has already notched three goals. Otherwise,  Martin O'Neill might want to extend his squad selection to Australia, where Andy Keogh and Roy O'Donovan have scored seven and six goals respectively since the Austria game

Extended squad members
Colin Doyle, Robert Elliot, Derrick Williams, Matt Doherty, Andy Boyle, Alex Pearce, Conor Hourihane, Darragh Lenihan, David Meyler, Kevin Doyle, Sean Maguire

Note that, at the time of writing, James McCarthy, Richard Keogh and Ciaran Clark's injury situation has yet to be clarified.

Round Up - Week of 7th March 2017

Tuesday, 7 March 2017

Championship

Blackburn 1-1 Cardiff

Derrick Williams' late equaliser was the defender's first goal for Blackburn, almost 17 months after his last goal in October 2015

Derby County 1-1 Preston North End

Aiden McGeady made his 25th appearance for Preston North End
Andy Boyle made his first appearance for Preston North End, 88 days after his last appearance for Dundalk in December

Rotherham 0-2 Brighton and Hove Albion

Lee Frecklington first start since 2nd January was also his 150th appearance in the Championship
Richie Towell came off the bench to make his first appearance for Brighton since the end of January

League 2

Crawley 0-2 Portsmouth

Rhys Murphy was named in Crawley's starting XI for the first time since he returned to the Reds
Noel Hunt first booking since the beginning of January was the striker's fifth yellow card of the season

Wednesday, 8 March 2017

Premier League

Manchester City 0-0 Stoke City

After being named on the bench at the weekend, Jonathan Walters returned to the Stoke City starting XI for his first appearance since January 3rd and was booked for the first time in almost a year - the striker's last yellow card was on March 19th, 2016

Round Up - Weekend of 4th March 2017

Saturday, 4 March 2017

Premier League

Swansea 3-2 Burnley

Stephen Ward was booked for the first time in 2017 in what was his 350th appearance in England
Robbie Brady made his 150th career start

Championship

Reading 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Paul McShane scored his third goal of the season, this was the first time the defender reached three goals in a season since 2006/07

Rotherham 0-2 Aston Villa

Lee Frecklington's was booked for the first time in 2017 in his first appearance for Rotherham since January 2nd

Huddersfield 1-3 Newcastle Utd

Daryl Murphy scored his 80th goal in the Championship in his first start in a month
Ciaran Clark was booked for the first time in 2017

League 1

Bradford City 1-0 Peterborough

Josh Cullen made his 50th start for Bradford City

Millwall 2-1 MK Dons

Darren Potter made his 250th start for MK Dons

Northampton 2-1 Charlton

John-Joe O'Toole scored his 60th goal of his career in his 100th start for Northampton

Rochdale 3-3 Sheffield United

Keith Keane made his 25th start for Rochdale

Scunthorpe 0-2 Fleetwood

Paddy Madden was shown his first yellow card of 2017

Shrewsbury 0-0 Coventry

Callum Reilly made his 25th appearance in League One

Swindon Town 0-1 Chesterfield

Anton Rodgers was in the starting XI for Swindon for the first time since January 7th

Walsall 2-0 Oldham

Eoghan O'Connell made his 25th appearance in the UK

League 2

Blackpool 3-1 Morecambe

Barry Roche was booked for the first time this season, more than 18 months after his last booking in August 2015

Cambridge United 1-1 Colchester

Gerry McDonagh scored his first goal for Cambridge, this was the U18 striker's first goal in league football

Cheltenham 0-0 Mansfield Town

Patrick Hoban's yellow card was the striker's first booking since October

Crawley 0-0 Doncaster Rovers

Mark Connolly made his 150th career start

Grimsby 1-2 Wycombe Wanderers

Michael Harriman made his 100th start for Wycombe Wanderers

Hartlepool 3-1 Exeter

Pierce Sweeney came off the bench for his first appearance since November

Plymouth 2-0 Carlisle United

Graham Carey scored his first goal since December 21st, this was the midfielder's 11th goal of the season

Portsmouth 0-1 Crewe Alexandra

Enda Stevens' start against Crewe was his 150th appearance in England
Eoin Doyle made his 50th appearance in League Two

Yeovil 0-4 Luton

Glen Rea scored his first goal since November 5th in his 50th career start

Scottish Premier League

Kilmarnock 1-2 Motherwell

Carl McHugh's equaliser for Motherwell was his first goal for the club, and was booked for the fifth time in 2016/17

Australian A-League

Wellington Phoenix 3-3 Perth Glory

Andy Keogh scored his tenth goal of the season

Sunday, 5 March 2017

Premier League

Sunderland 0-2 Manchester City

John O'Shea was shown his first yellow card in 2017, 81 days after his last booking in December

Scottish FA Cup

Aberdeen 1-0 Partick Thistle

Daniel Devine's red card was the first time the defender was sent off in his career

MLS

Colorado Rapids 1-0 New England Revolution

Kevin Doyle started Colorado's first game in the new MLS season

Polish Ekstraklasa

Jagiellonia Białystok 4-1 Śląsk Wrocław

After signing for Jagiellonia Białystok midweek, Cillian Sheridan started his first game for the club

February 2017 Appearance Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for February 2017: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=2

Wins
Aberdeen duo Jonathan Hayes and Adam Rooney both started five wins in February

Draws
In the Championship, David McGoldrick started four draws for Ipswich

Losses
Matt Doherty started five losses for Wolves

Starts/Completed Games
Ciaran Clark, Shane Duffy, Darragh Lenihan and Rooney all started seven games in the second month in 2017, and all of them completed 90 minutes with the single exception of Rooney

Substitutions/Introductions
Rooney and Wes Hoolahan share the same amount of substitutions in February - both players were withdrawn from the action four times. Conversely, defender Anthony O'Connor was introduced from the bench four times.

Stayed On Bench
Robert Elliot has returned from injury for Newcastle, but was still an unused substitute for six games in February, of the outfield players both Andy Boyle and Corey O'Keefe were left on the bench four times by their respective managers

Goals
Rooney scored the most goals in February, the Aberdeen striker found the back of the net four times, one more than Aiden McGeady.

Discipline
Ryan Manning was shown three yellow cards in February

Round Up - Week of 28th February 2017

Tuesday, 28 February 2017

Championship

Aston Villa 2-0 Bristol City

Conor Hourihane scored his first goal for Aston Villa since moving to Villa Park, this was the midfielder's seventh goal of the season

Blackburn 1-0 Derby County

Derrick Williams made his 50th appearance in the Championship
Darragh Lenihan made his 50th start for Blackburn

League 1

Northampton 1-2 Oldham

John-Joe O'Toole's consolation striker was his 25th goal for Northampton

Swindon Town 3-1 Gillingham

Anton Rodgers came off the bench for his first appearance for Swindon since January 7th

League 2

Cambridge United 2-3 Doncaster Rovers

Paul Keegan returned to Doncaster's team with his first appearance since January 14th

Crawley 1-2 Exeter

Mark Connolly's late consolation striker for Crawley's was the tenth goal of the defender's career, and the first time he's scored more than twice in a season

Grimsby 1-0 Colchester

Owen Garvan was booked for the first time in 2016, 64 days after his last booking at the end of December
Sean Murray was booked for the first time this season, almost 16 months after his last booking in November 2015

Wednesday, 1 March 2017

Scottish Premier League

Dundee 0-1 Partick Thistle

Adam Barton was shown his first yellow card of 2017

Rangers 3-2 St Johnstone

Robert Kiernan was sent off for the first time in his career in what was the defender's 150th career start