Round Up for week of Tuesday, 15th December 2020

Tuesday, 15th December 2020

Championship

Bournemouth 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers

Daryl Horgan made his 20th appearance for Wycombe Wanderers

Barnsley 2-1 Preston North End

Joe Rafferty made his 50th appearance in the competition
Sean Maguire's first goal since Sunday, 4 October was his 20th goal in the Championship

Bristol City 0-2 Millwall

Callum O'Dowda came off the bench in the second half for his 150th appearance for Bristol City
Shaun Williams was named in the Millwall starting IX for the 250th time

League 1

Gillingham 0-2 Accrington Stanley

Jack Bonham made his 60th appearance for Gillingham - starting every time
Thomas O'Connor was booked for the first time since Tuesday, 22 September

Sunderland 1-1 AFC Wimbledon

Aiden O'Brien's start was first appearance since Tuesday, 10th November
Callum Reilly was booked for the first time since Saturday, 31st October

Wigan 0-5 Rochdale

Jimmy Ryan's start was his 50th appearance for Rochdale

Ipswich 2-1 Burton Albion

John-Joe O'Toole's first start in five weeks was his 50th appearance for Burton Albion

MK Dons 1-1 Peterborough

Jack Taylor made his 30th appearance for Peterborough, continuing his record of starting each game

Portsmouth 0-0 Fleetwood

Marcus Harness' 50th start for Portsmouth was also his 60th appearance for Pompey
Paddy Madden was booked for the fifth time this season

League 2

Carlisle United 1-0 Mansfield Town

Ryan Sweeney was named in the Mansfield starting XI for the 100th time

Oldham 2-3 Walsall

Liam Kinsella's start was his 150th appearance for Walsall

Cheltenham 0-1 Bolton

Eoin Doyle's start was his 350th appearance in British football
Ryan Delaney's goal was his first in League Two

Indian Super League

Hyderabad 3-2 SC East Bengal

Anthony Pilkington completed his first assist for SC East Bengal, in his fifth appearance for the club.

Wednesday, 16th December 2020

Premier League

Leeds United 5-2 Newcastle Utd

Jeff Hendrick scored his second goal of the season in his 300th career start
Ciaran Clark's first goal of the season, his first in 13 months, was his 15th Premier League goal

Championship

Derby County 2-0 Swansea

Jason Knight's start was his 50th Championship appearance

Cardiff 3-2 Birmingham City

Greg Cunningham's late substitute introduction was his first appearance since Sunday, 18th October

Scottish League Cup

St Mirren 3-2 Rangers

Conor McCarthy scored his first goal of the season in his 30th appearance for St Mirren
Jamie McGrath's brace was his fifth goal in four games

Copa del Rey

CD Calaharra 0-1 La Nucia

Kevin Toner's introduction made the defender the first Irish player to appear in the Copa del Rey since Steve Finnan started for Espanyol against Barcelona in January 2009

Thursday, 17th December 2020

Premier League

Sheffield United 2-3 Manchester United

David McGoldrick scored his fifth and sixth goals in the Premier League

Copa del Rey

Anaitasuna 1-2 Getafe

John-Joe Finn was named in the starting XI for the first time in his career

Premier League Players Without International Caps

With the Premier League about to return, we've wondered what Irish players have appeared in the top division in England without going on to play international football.

Scott Fitzgerald made 69 appearances for Wimbledon in the Premier League - as many as the bottom 27 players in the final table made combined - and earned four caps for the Republic's U21 side, scoring once, but never played at a higher level than a B international against Denmark in 1992.

Only five players have scored in the Premier League, and not earned a senior international cap. Current Waterford FC chairman Lee Power scored six goals in the 1992/93 season, and played in the same B international in 1992, but also never earned a senior cap

Of the players who have yet to progress to the senior international side, only Michael Obafemi and Josh Cullen are currently registered with teams who will play in the Premier League in 2018/19.

Player	Starts	Intros	Apps	Goals
Scott Fitzgerald	61	8	69	0
Willie Boland	43	20	63	0
Gareth Whalley	33	2	35	1
Jason Gavin	19	12	31	0
Derek Geary	26	0	26	0
Lee Power	13	10	23	6
Andy Turner	8	12	20	3
Roy O'Donovan	4	13	17	0
Willo Flood	5	9	14	1
Sean Thornton	11	0	11	1
Michael Reddy	0	10	10	1
Tony Sheridan	5	4	9	0
Neale Fenn	0	8	8	0
Chris McCann	7	0	7	0
Anthony Forde	3	3	6	0
Rory Ginty	2	3	5	0
Mark McKeever	2	3	5	0
Marcos Painter	2	2	4	0
Reece Grego Cox	1	3	4	0
Kevin Toner	3	1	4	0
Brian Launders	1	2	3	0
Paul McGee	1	2	3	0
Keith O'Halloran	2	1	3	0
John McGrath	0	3	3	0
Mark Yeates	1	2	3	0
Aaron Doran	0	3	3	0
Samir Carruthers	0	3	3	0
Josh Cullen	0	3	3	0
Jim Crawford	0	2	2	0
David McDonald	2	0	2	0
Michael Cummins	1	1	2	0
Shaun Byrne	0	2	2	0
Richie Ryan	0	2	2	0
Michael Harriman	1	1	2	0
Danny Boxall	0	1	1	0
Rob Quinn	0	1	1	0
Tony Folan	0	1	1	0
Lee Boylan	0	1	1	0
Brian McGovern	0	1	1	0
Paddy McCarthy	0	1	1	0
Jay O'Shea	0	1	1	0
Michael Obafemi	0	1	1	0

Round Up for Weekend of Saturday, 28th October 2017

Saturday, 28 October 2017

Premier League

Today's seven fixtures set a new high for a single day's fixtures without a starting Irish player. The previous high was five games on 6th November 2016

Championship

Preston North End 2-3 Brentford

Sean Maguire marked his 40th start in English football with his fourth goal of the season and his first booking of 2017/18

Sunderland 1-2 Bristol City

Darron Gibson first start in a month was also his 25th appearance in the Championship

League 1

Northampton 1-0 Blackpool

John-Joe O'Toole made his 350th career appearance

Bristol Rovers 2-0 MK Dons

Rory Gaffney scored his 25th goal in English football

Bury 0-1 Doncaster Rovers

Eoghan O'Connell was sent off for the second time in his career, the defender was last shown a red card on 22nd April

Oldham 2-3 Scunthorpe

Jack Byrne made his 50th career appearance

Walsall 0-1 Southend United

Simon Cox scored his 20th goal for Southend

League 2

Chesterfield 2-2 Carlisle United

Jamie Devitt made his 200th appearance in League Two

Grimsby 0-0 Cambridge United

James Berrett was booked for the first time in a month in his landmark 350th career appearance

Luton 0-3 Coventry

Glen Rea was sent off for the second time for Luton, the defender's last red card came in January of this year

Port Vale 0-3 Swindon Town

Donal McDermott made his 25th appearance inLeague 2
Gavin Gunning was booked for the first time in almost three months

Yeovil 3-0 Stevenage

Kevin Toner was sent off for the first time in his career

Scottish Premier League

Aberdeen 2-1 Ross County

Aaron McCarey stated his first game since Saturday, 16th September

Partick Thistle 1-0 St Johnstone

Daniel Devine made his 50th start for Partick Thistle
Niall Keown made his 25th appearance in the Scottish Premier League

Monday, 30th October 2017

Premier League

Burnley 1-0 Newcastle Utd

This game had the most Irish players starting a Monday night fixture since 6th May 2013
Stephen Ward made his 150th Premier League appearance
Jeff Hendrick scored his 30th goal of his career

Round Up for Tuesday, 3rd October 2017

Tuesday, 3rd October 2017

Football League Trophy

Cambridge United 0-1 Southampton U21

Jake Carroll was booked for the first time season in his first start in more than a month

Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Oldham

Jack Byrne's winner was his first goal in Football League Trophy

Doncaster Rovers 1-0 Sunderland U21

Cody Prior made his senior debut as a second half substitute

Fleetwood 2-1 Morecambe

Cian Bolger made his 50th start for Fleetwood

Blackburn 0-1 Bury

Eoghan O'Connell returned from injury to make his first appearance for Bury since signing for them in the summer

Scunthorpe 2-1 Grimsby

Sam Kelly start against Scunthorpe was his first start since Tuesday, 29th August

Colchester 0-1 Gillingham

Sean Murray made his 100th career start
Finn O'Mara's start for Gillingham was also the defender's first career start

Plymouth 2-2 Exeter

Both Liam McAlinden and Pierce Sweeney made their 50th appearance for Exeter, with McAlinden marking the occasion with the 20th goal of his career

MK Dons 0-0 Stevenage

Luke Wade Slater's start for Stevenage was the former St Kevin's Boys player's first career start
Kevin Toner was booked for the first time this season

Oxford United 2-2 Brighton U21

Daniel Mandroiu's equaliser for Brighton's U21 side was the first senior goal of the striker's career

Peterborough 1-1 Northampton

Sam Foley made his first appearance for Northampton after signing for them in preseason

Report Card - Tuesday, 29th August 2017

Tuesday, 29 August 2017

Football League Trophy

Blackpool 1-1 Wigan

Rowan Roche made his first appearance of the season

Chesterfield 2-4 Bradford City

Connor Dimaio made his first appearance of the season

Oldham 0-0 Port Vale

After signing for Oldham on loan, Jack Byrne made his first start for the Latics. This was the midfielder's first start in almost a year.
Gavin Gunning's start for Port Vale was the defender's 200th career appearance

Colchester 2-2 Reading U21

After signing for Colchester in the summer, Rene Gilmartin made his first start for the U's. This was the goalkeeper's first appearance since January 2013
Josh Barrett scored his first goal of the season

Morecambe 0-2 Carlisle United

Jamie Devitt made his 50th appearance for Carlisle United

Gillingham 2-1 Southend United

Stephen McLaughlin scored his first goal of the season
Conor Wilkinson was booked for the first time this season

Wycombe Wanderers 1-5 Bristol Rovers

Michael Harriman made his 200th career appearance

Stevenage 2-6 Oxford United

Kevin Toner made his first start for Stevenage
Canice Carroll made his first start of the season

Northampton 1-1 Cambridge United

Jake Carroll made his 25th appearance for Cambridge United

Peterborough 2-0 Southampton U21

Conor O'Malley made his first start for Peterborough
Chris Forrester was booked for the first time this season

August 2017 Transfers, Loans and Contracts

Transfers

Thursday, 3rd August

Rob Kiernan returned to Southend, having spent a brief loan spell at Roots Hall in 2013, signing a three year deal: 🔗

After impressing on trial in preseason, Noel Hunt signed a one year deal with Wigan Athletic: 🔗

Following his release from Blackburn Rovers, Anthony Stokes has returned to Hibernian for his third spell at Easter Road: 🔗

Tuesday, 15th August

Patrick Cregg returned to Scotland from St Patrick’s Athletic to sign a one year deal with Forfar Athletic: 🔗

Wednesday, 23rd August

Padraig Amond returned to League Two to sign for Newport County: 🔗

Thursday, 31st August

Marc Wilson left Bournemouth to sign a contract with Sunderland until the end of the season: 🔗

Loans

Tuesday, 1st August

Ahead of the new Championship season, Josh Cullen signed a six month loan deal with Bolton Wanderers: 🔗
 

Wednesday, 2nd August

Blackpool winger Rowan Roche signed for non league Southport until January: 🔗

Friday, 18th August

Bournemouth striker Joe Quigley signed on loan with Newport County until January: 🔗

Wednesday, 23rd August

Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Joe Mason signed for fellow Championship side Burton Albion on loan until January: 🔗

Thursday, 24th August

Aston Villa defender Kevin Toner signed a one year loan deal with Stevenage FC: 🔗

Tuesday, 29th August

Jack Byrne signed for fellow Irish midfielder John Sheridan on loan at Oldham until January: 🔗

Wednesday, 30th August

Ipswich midfielder Adam McDonnell signed for Aldershot Town on a one month’s loan: 🔗

Bostik League side Worthing Town took Brighton defender Rian O’Sullivan on a six month loan: 🔗

Thursday, 31st August

Preston striker Eoin Doyle joined John Sheridan’s Oldham on loan until January: 🔗

Burton full back Damien McCrory signed a loan deal with Portsmouth until January: 🔗

Rotherham United signed a late loan deal with Richie Towell until the end of the season: 🔗
 

Contracts

Friday, 11th August

Eunan O’Kane signed a new four year deal at Leeds United, extending his stay at Elland Road until the 2020/21 season: 🔗

Monday, 14th August

Following his stunning opening day goal for Burnley, Stephen Ward signed a new contract with the Clarets until June 2019: 🔗

Thursday, 17th August

Defender Shane Duffy was one of three players to sign new deals with Brighton and Hove Albion, the defender signed a new four year deal with the Seagulls: 🔗

Wednesday, 30th August

Reading captain Paul McShane signed a one year extension to his contract, keeping him with the Royals until 2019: 🔗

Round Up - Weekend of Friday, 28th April 2017

Friday, 28 April 2017

Championship

Cardiff 0-2 Newcastle Utd

Robert Elliot made his 50th start for Newcastle Utd. This was the first game where three Republic of Ireland players (Elliot, Ciaran Clark and Daryl Murphy) started a game for Newcastle since February 2008 when Shay Given, Stephen Carr and Damien Duff were in the starting XI for the toon

Scottish Premier League

Ross County 4-0 Inverness CT

Jake Mulraney returned to the Inverness starting XI for his first start since the end of February

Saturday, 29 April 2017

Premier League

Crystal Palace 0-2 Burnley

Jeff Hendrick's appearance in the Burnley starting XI was the midfielder's 200th career start

Championship

Derby County 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Alex Pearce was booked for the fifth time this season

Ipswich 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday

David McGoldrick made his 25th start of the season

Leeds United 3-3 Norwich

Eunan O'Kane's first start since the beginning of March was also the midfielder's 25th appearance for Leeds United

Reading 1-0 Wigan

Liam Kelly was booked for the first time this season

League 2

Cambridge United 2-0 Crawley

Gerry McDonagh was shown the first yellow card of his loan spell at Cambridge in his first appearance since March 28th
James Collins made his 50th appearance for Crawley

Carlisle United 2-1 Newport Co.

Mark O'Brien made his 25th appearance in League Two

Cheltenham 1-0 Hartlepool

Padraig Amond was booked for the first time this season

Scottish Premier League

Aberdeen 0-2 St Johnstone

Joe Shaughnessy was booked for the first time since September

Hearts 2-2 Partick Thistle

Daniel Devine was sent off for the second time this season

Hamilton Academical 0-2 Kilmarnock

Conor Sammon's opener for Kilmarnock was the striker's first goal since March 18th

MLS

Orlando City 2-0 Colorado Rapids

Kevin Doyle was booked for the first time in the 2017 MLS season

Australian A-League

Sydney 3-0 Perth Glory

Andy Keogh was booked for the fifth time this season

Sunday, 30 April 2017

League 1

Bolton 3-0 Peterborough

Chris Forrester made his 50th appearance of the season

Northampton 0-0 Gillingham

Mark Byrne made his 25th start for Gillingham

Rochdale 1-1 Bradford City

Joe Rafferty made his 50th appearance of the season
Kevin Toner's first start since Sunday, 26th March was also the defender's 25th career start

Southend United 1-0 Bury

Simon Cox made his 50th appearance for Southend United
Stephen McLaughlin marked his 100th appearance since leaving Derry City with his first goal of 2017

Polish Ekstraklasa

Jagiellonia Białystok 1-0 Pogoń Szczecin

Cillian Sheridan scored his fifth goal for Jagiellonia Białystok

Round Up - International Break

Tuesday, 21 March 2017

League 1

Coventry 2-1 Port Vale

Sam Foley was booked for the first time in 2017

Rochdale 3-3 Millwall

Aiden O'Brien scored for the first time in a month

League 2

Newport Co. 1-1 Luton

Mark O'Brien was sent off for the second time in his career, two and half years after his last red card in September 2014

Saturday, 25 March 2017

League 1

Oldham 1-1 Sheffield United

Jay O'Shea's tenth goal of the season (the most he's scored in a single season in England) was also his 30th goal in League One

League 2

Carlisle United 0-2 Crewe Alexandra

Jamie Devitt returned to the Carlisle starting XI for his first start since February 11th

Colchester 2-1 Luton

Sean Murray made his 25th start of the season
Glen Rea made his 50th appearance for Luton

Crawley 3-0 Leyton Orient

James Collins scored his 20th goal for Crawley

Australian A-League

Central Coast Mariners 2-3 Adelaide United

Roy O'Donovan scored his first goal February 12th

Sunday, 26 March 2017

League 1

Scunthorpe 3-2 Bradford City

Kevin Toner marked his first appearance for Bradford City with the first goal of his career
Billy Clarke was booked for the first time in 2017

Tuesday, 28 March 2017

League 1

AFC Wimbledon 3-1 Rochdale

Keith Keane was sent off for the second time this season

Sheffield United 2-0 Millwall

Aiden O'Brien was shown his first yellow card of 2017

Round Up - Week of 4th October 2016

Tuesday, 4 October 2016

Football League Trophy

Bolton 1-0 Blackpool
Eddie Nolan returned to the Blackpool starting XI for his first appearance since Tuesday, 30 August

Cambridge United 2-1 Middlesbrough U23
Coincidentally, Sean Long also returned to the Cambridge starting XI for his first appearance since Tuesday, 30 August

Carlisle United 2-0 Blackburn Rovers U23
Anthony Stokes made his first appearance since 27 August 2016

Fleetwood 0-2 Oldham
After coming off the bench against Bradford a week ago, Cian Bolger made his first start since Tuesday, 30 August

Doncaster Rovers 2-2 Derby County U23
Paul Keegan made his first appearance of the season and was booked for the first time in more than a year

Rochdale 2-1 Notts County
Niall Canavan made his 25th start for Rochdale
Graham Burke's start for Notts County was his first appearance since 31 August 2016

Grimsby 0-1 Leicester City U23
James McKeown was sent off for the first time in his career

Sheffield United 1-2 Walsall
Kevin Toner was booked for the first time this season

Bristol Rovers 0-0 Yeovil
Kevin Dawson was sent off for the first time in his career

AFC Wimbledon 2-1 Plymouth
Connor Smith scored his first goal of his career

Southend United 1-0 Leyton Orient
Alan Dunne made his first appearance of the season, before this the defender had not played since Sunday, 15 November 2015

Millwall 2-1 Gillingham
Emmanuel Osadebe made his 25th appearance for Gillingham

Thursday, 6th October 2016

FIFA World Cup European Qualifying

Republic of Ireland 1-0 Georgia
Seamus Coleman scored his first goal in what was his 40th appearance for Ireland
Jeff Hendrick was booked for the fifth time in his 20th start for Ireland
James McCarthy made his 40th appearance for Ireland
Robbie Brady made his 30th appearance for Ireland
Shane Long made his 70th appearance for Ireland
Jonathan Walters made his 30th start for Ireland

Round Up - Weekend of 27th August 2016

Saturday, 27 August 2016
Today was the first time that two Irish players scored an own goal on the same day since January

Premier League

Crystal Palace 1-1 Bournemouth
Damien Delaney was booked for the first time this season

Everton 1-0 Stoke City
Shay Given's own goal this against Everton was the goalkeeper's first OG since October 2007

Hull City 0-1 Manchester United
David Meyler was booked for the first time since October 2015

Championship

Barnsley 4-0 Rotherham
Aidan White made his 25th appearance for Barnsley

Blackburn 0-1 Fulham
After signing for Blackburn on Friday, both Tommie Hoban and Derrick Williams made their first appearances for the Lancashire side

Newcastle Utd 2-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
Having signed for Brighton on Friday, Shane Duffy went straight into the starting XI for the Seagulls against Newcastle

League 1

Bradford City 1-1 Oldham
Billy Clarke's second half penalty was his 20th goal for Bradford

Chesterfield 1-3 Millwall
Shaun Williams was booked for the first time since February 2016

Coventry 1-1 Northampton
Despite the season only being a month old, John-Joe O'Toole picked up his fifth booking in this game

Port Vale 3-1 Scunthorpe
Paddy Madden came off the bench to make his first appearance for Scunthorpe this season

Rochdale 1-1 AFC Wimbledon
Donal McDermott made his 50th appearance for Rochdale

Walsall 3-3 Bury
After signing a new contract with Aston Villa this week, Kevin Toner went out on loan to Walsall and made his first appearance this season for his new club

League 2

Accrington Stanley 2-3 Morecambe
John O'Sullivan was booked for the first time this season

Crawley 1-3 Notts County
James Collins had the misfortune of scoring the first own goal of his career in this game

Scottish Premier League
Inverness CT 2-1 St Johnstone
Joe Shaughnessy made his 50th start for St Johnstone

Celtic 4-1 Aberdeen
Adam Rooney's goal against Celtic was the Aberdeen striker's first goal in more than a month

Scottish First Division

Falkirk 1-0 Dumbarton
Danny Rogers made his 50th appearance for Falkirk

Round Up - Weekend of 22nd April 2016

Friday, 22 April 2016
Scottish Premier League
St Johnstone 3-0 Aberdeen
Jonathan Hayes made his 150th start for Aberdeen, and picked up his first booking since December

Saturday, 23 April 2016
Premier League
Aston Villa 2-4 Southampton
Kevin Toner made his first appearance for Aston Villa as a second half substitute, and marked the occasion with an assist on their second goal
Shane Long's ninth Premier League goal of the season is a new personal best for the Tipperary striker

League 1 
Bradford City 4-0 Walsall
Liam Kinsella returned to the Walsall starting XI for his first start since 19th March

Colchester 0-3 Burton Albion
Louis Dunne made his first start for Colchester

Peterborough 0-2 Scunthorpe
Paddy Madden made his 50th appearance of the season
Stephen Dawson fourth booking of the season was more than three month since his last yellow card

Wigan 4-1 Southend United
David Mooney returned to the Southend team for his first appearance since 5th March
Chris McCann scored his third goal of the season, this was his first strike since 12th January

League 2
Luton 1-1 Newport Co.
Like Paddy Madden, Mark Byrne made his 50th appearance of the season!

Morecambe 1-4 Stevenage
Jamie Devitt was booked for the fifth time in 2015/16

English FA Cup
Everton 1-2 Manchester United
Darron Gibson made his fiftieth start for Everton

Sunday, 24 April 2016
MLS
Colorado Rapids 3-1 Seattle Sounders FC
Kevin Doyle marked his first appearance for the Rapids since 20th March with his fifth goal for the club

Further Reading
Vox in the Box: Guardian cartoonist David Squires - [thesetpieces]
Long Lacks Star Quality But Remains Key Saints Regular - whoscored.com
Next Jamie Vardy? Padraig Amond Interview - pogmogoal.com
Interview: Jeff Hendrick on choosing soccer over Gaelic and Martin O’Neill’s magic touch - The Irish Post

U21 Absentees

Two recent defeats for Ireland's U21 - losing 4-1 to Italy and 3-1 to Slovenia - saw some predictable media hand wringing about the make-up of the team. One of the more commonly raised points was that only four of the starting XI against Italy were born in Ireland. While this is true (and slightly debatable since goalkeeper Daniel Rogers was born in America but raised in Ireland), we think the media, instead of criticising those who did take part, should have been asking if the best players available had been selected to begin with - after all, this is a favourite topic of journalists when the senior squad is announced by Martin O'Neill, or any of  his predecessor.

First, the unavailable players, Preston's combative Cork-born midfielder Alan Browne was named in the original squad, but had to withdraw due to injury, and Dubliner Sam Byrne of Everton recently broke his leg in training. Full back Sean Kavanagh was suspended after being sent off in the meeting between Ireland and Lithuania in October. All are regulars in the underage setup, and there can't be any complaints about their omission - that's just football. Also unavailable due to injury was Liverpool's Daniel Cleary, who was included on the bench by Brendan Rogers in a Europa League game earlier this season, but strangely hasn't featured for any underage side since May 2014.

We've looked through the squads in the Professional U21 League Divisions 1 and 2 in England, and noticed the following

The strange absence of Liverpool's academy and reserve players at underage level has been discussed on the site before. Alex O'Hanlon was training with Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool senior team (or at least their squad members who were not in international duty) in Spain during the U21 games, and came off the bench for an assist on the opening goal in a reserve game against Reading the weekend after the qualifiers.

Reading FC have quite a few Irish players in their U21 side at the moment - Pierce Sweeney, Sean Long, Shane Griffin, Niall Keown, Liam Kelly and Conor Shaughnessy. Kelly and Long are currently out on loan - Kelly is at Bath City, finding the back of the net four times from midfield, while Long is with Braintree in the Nation League. Joshua Barrett who was called into the Ireland U21 squad despite being only 17! Clearly the Irish management team are monitoring the Reading side, so why were Kelly and Shaughnessy omitted?

Aston Villa's 19 year old centre half Kevin Toner made his first appearance in the Villains senior matchday squad as an unused substitute against Bournemouth earlier this month. After serving a suspension from the under 19's elite qualifiers in late 2015, he was available again but not included in the squad

Ryan Rainey of Wolves recently signed a one year extension to his current deal, but hasn't been involved with the national side since an U18 friendly with the Czech Republic in 2014

Stoke City reserves Ryan O'Reilly and Bobby Moseley are both out on loan at the moment, at Wrexham and in the States with San Antonio FC. O'Reilly hasn't been in an Ireland squad since 2013, but Moseley is a regular in underage sides, last appearing for the under 19's in the elite qualifying stage a year a go. Their fellow Potter, Bedford-born Mason Watkins-Clark is playing and scoring in the reserves, a recent finish sent their U21 side to the Final Development League Cup North Final.

In the league of Ireland, Celtic defender Eoghan O'Connell is currently on loan at Cork City, playing alongside U21 squad member Kevin O'Connor, while Shamrock Rovers striker Michael Drennan is still eligible for these qualifiers.

So, while the two losses and the statistic about the lineup were disappointing to say the least, should there be more asked of the manager about the players listed above?

Round Up - Weekend of 9th April 2016

Saturday, 9 April 2016
Premier League
Aston Villa 1-2 Bournemouth
Congratulations to U19 player Kevin Toner on his first appearance in the matchday squad for Aston Villa as an unused substitute

Watford 1-1 Everton
James McCarthy scored his first goal of the season, almost a year to the day since his last strike for Everton on 26th April 2015

Southampton 3-1 Newcastle Utd
Shane Long scored his eleventh of the season, and eighth in the Premier League, equaling his career best in England's top division

Manchester City 2-1 West Bromwich Albion
James McClean returned to the West Brom starting XI for his first start in almost two months

Championship
Ipswich 1-3 Brentford
We were desperately disappointed to hear of Alan Judge's double leg break in this game, and wish him a speedy recovery.

Middlesbrough 1-0 Preston North End
Eoin Doyle first start since 23rd January was his 25th appearance for Preston

MK Dons 0-4 Rotherham
Stephen Kelly was booked for the first time this season, and Leon Best scored his fourth goal in five games - could he make a late run to the Euro 2016 squad?

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 Blackburn
Darragh Lenihan's start against Wolves was his twenty-fifth appearance for Blackburn

League 1
Bradford City 1-0 Swindon Town
Anton Rodgers made his fiftieth appearance for Swindon
Billy Clarke scored his third of the season, having not scored before this game since early November

Southend United 2-2 Fleetwood
Gary Deegan made his fiftieth appearance for Southend, and in the same game Jimmy Ryan made his three hundred fiftieth career start

League 2
Crawley 1-5 Oxford United
Frankie Sutherland won't want to remember his 25th career appearance after this loss at home to Oxford!
Callum O'Dowda scored his fourth goal in three games, having only scored five goals in the season before that!

Dagenham and Redbridge 1-4 Portsmouth
Michael Doyle scored his second of the season, and was booked for the third time in 2015/16

Morecambe 2-5 Hartlepool
Having only been sent off once in his career before 2015/16, goalkeeper Barry Roche has now been sent off twice in the last four games!

Northampton 2-2 Bristol Rovers
Congratulations to John-Joe O'Toole, Brendan Moloney (who made his fiftieth appearance for Northampton today) and James Collins on winning promotion to League One next season in this game

Plymouth 1-2 AFC Wimbledon
Graham Carey scored his tenth goal of the season

Scottish Premier League
Hamilton Academical 2-1 Dundee
Darren O'Dea was booked for the fifth time this season

Scottish First Division
Falkirk 3-2 St Mirren
Jim Goodwin was booked for the sixth time this season, in only 18 appearances

Eredivisie
SC Cambuur 0-1 Ajax
Jack Byrne made his twenty-fifth career appearance

Australian A-League
Central Coast Mariners 2-4 Newcastle Jets
Roy O'Donovan scored his fourth goal in his last four games

Further Reading
Sean Kavanagh still hopeful of saving Fulham FC career - getwestlondon
‘Lucky mascot’ Stephen Kelly eager to maintain Millers’ climb to safety - The Yorkshire Post
HOBAN: “Hopefully I Can Push On From Here” – Defender On Injury Return - watfordfc.com
Steven Reid: FAI have to realise we will win nothing without kids - Irish Independent