Round Up for week of Tuesday, 28th November 2017

Tuesday, 28th November 2017

Premier League

West Bromwich Albion 2-2 Newcastle Utd

Ciaran Clark scored his fifth goal for Newcastle, this was also the 15th goal of the defender's career

Championship

Reading 3-0 Barnsley

Liam Kelly made his 50th appearance for Reading

Tonight's line-up also means Academy graduate @L_Kelly95 will notch up senior appearance number 5️⃣0️⃣ in a Reading shirt! 💙 #OneOfOurOwn pic.twitter.com/rORnjsznfv

— Reading FC (@ReadingFC) November 28, 2017

League 1

Blackpool 2-4 Blackburn

Jimmy Ryan was booked for the first time in two months

Charlton 2-2 Peterborough

After signing a two month deal with Charlton, Leon Best made his first start for the Addicks. This was his first appearance since January
Chris Forrester returned to the Peterborough starting XI for the first time since Saturday, 14th October

Wednesday, 29th November 2017

Premier League

Bournemouth 1-2 Burnley

Harry Arter made his 250th appearance for Bournemouth

2️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ and counting...@HarryArter2 makes a landmark club appearance in #BOUBUR tonight! 👏#afcb 🍒 pic.twitter.com/bqXBe6cFMM

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) November 29, 2017

Robbie Brady scored his 25th goal of his career

Manchester City 2-1 Southampton

Shane Long was booked for the first time since Saturday, 23rd September

Scottish Premier League

Motherwell 1-1 Celtic

Charles Dunne was shown his first yellow card since Sunday, 24th September

Rangers 3-0 Aberdeen

Anthony O'Connor was booked for the first time in a month

Round Up - Week of 17th January 2017

Tuesday, 17 January 2017

English FA Cup

Barnsley 1-2 Blackpool
Mark Yeates made his 25th appearance for Blackpool

Lincoln 1-0 Ipswich
Leon Best returned to the Ipswich starting XI for the first time since 22 October 22nd
Jonathan Douglas was booked for the third time this season, more than three months after his last booking on October 1st

Football League Trophy

Cheltenham 0-1 Bradford City
Billy Clarke returned from injury for his first appearance since November 12th

Wednesday, 18 January 2017

English FA Cup

Southampton 1-0 Norwich
Shane Long marked his 100th appearance for Southampton with his second goal of the season

Round Up - Week of 26th September 2016

Tuesday, 27 September 2016

Championship

Brentford 4-1 Reading
Paul McShane made his 50th appearance for Reading
Alan McCormack's returned to the Brentford starting XI for his first appearance since 9th August and was booked for the first time since April

Huddersfield 2-1 Rotherham
Sean Scannell was booked for the first time in almost a year on his return for Huddersfield after a month out of the side

Ipswich 0-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
Leon Best made his first start for Ipswich since signing for the Tractor Boys. Before this, the striker hadn't started since the end of April
Jonathan Douglas was booked for the first time this season

League 1

Bradford City 2-1 Fleetwood
Josh Cullen made his 25th appearance for Bradford City (starting each one of them) and was booked for the first time in the 2016/17 season
Billy Clarke scored his 70th goal of his career, a month after he scored his 69th goal against Oldham

Southend United 2-1 Oxford United
David Mooney made his 50th appearance for Southend
Stephen McLaughlin made his 50th club start since leaving the League of Ireland

Swindon Town 1-3 Northampton
Sean Murray scored his first goal for Swindon. This was the winger's first goal since November 2015

Walsall 1-4 Scunthorpe
Liam Kinsella was booked for the first time this season

League 2

Accrington Stanley 1-1 Mansfield Town
Patrick Hoban made his first start for Mansfield, having not started a game since February

Hartlepool 1-1 Luton
Alan Sheehan scored his first goal of the season

Leyton Orient 0-2 Plymouth
Graham Carey was booked for the first time this season

Wednesday, 28 September 2016

Championship

Newcastle Utd 4-3 Norwich
Ciaran Clark made his 150th career start
Robbie Brady was booked for the first time since March

Round Up - Weekend of 17th September 2016

Saturday, 17 September 2016

Premier League

Leicester City 3-0 Burnley
Jeff Hendrick made his first start for Burnley since signing for them on transfer deadline day

West Bromwich Albion 4-2 West Ham United
James McClean scored his 25th goal since moving to England, this is also the former Derry winger's 10th goal in the Premier League

Everton 3-1 Middlesbrough
Seamus Coleman's first goal since February was also his 15th goal in the Premier League

Championship

Ipswich 0-0 Aston Villa
Leon Best came off the bench to make his first appearance for Ipswich

Newcastle Utd 0-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Joe Mason made his 25th appearance for Wolves

Birmingham City 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Keiren Westwood's yellow card was the goalkeeper's first booking since January 2015

League 1

Bradford City 1-1 Bristol Rovers
Josh Cullen made his 25th career start

Chesterfield 3-1 Northampton
Conor Wilkinson scored his first goal for Chesterfield, the striker's first goal since January. This was also his fifth goal in League One.

Coventry 0-0 Oldham
Paul Green and Charles Dunne were both booked for the first time this season. Before this, Green hadn't been booked since April 2015

Port Vale 2-1 Gillingham
Emmanuel Osadebe was booked for the first time this season

Rochdale 2-1 Fleetwood
Keith Keane made his first start for Rochale since signing for them on loan 

Southend United 3-1 Millwall
Stephen McLaughlin scored his first goal in a month in his 25th start for Southend
David Mooney scored his tenth goal for the Shrimpers

League 2

Exeter 0-2 Plymouth
Graham Carey made his 50th start for Plymouth and marked the occasion with his 15th goal in League Two

Leyton Orient 0-1 Yeovil
Kevin Dawson was booked for the fifth time this season

Scottish Premier League

Kilmarnock 2-2 Partick Thistle
Gary Dicker made his 25th appearance for Kilmarnock

St Johnstone 1-0 Hearts
Graham Cummins marked his 150th appearance in England and Scotland, for four clubs, with his tenth goal for St Johnstone

Scottish First Division

Greenock Morton 2-1 Dunfermline
Gavin Gunning made his first appearance for Greenock after signing a short term deal for the Ton during the week

Cypriot Premier League

Ethnikos Achna 1-2 Omonia Nicosia
The first goal of Cillian Sheridan's brace was the Monaghan striker's 25th goal in the Cypriot Premier League

Sunday, 18 September 2016

Premier League

Southampton 1-0 Swansea
Shane Long marked his 50th start for Southampton with his first booking this season

Scottish Premier League

Dundee 1-3 Aberdeen
Anthony O'Connor booking against Dundee was his first booking since December 2015

Inverness CT 2-2 Celtic
Jake Mulraney came off the bench to make his 25th career appearance

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

Round Up - Weekend of 2nd April 2016

Saturday, 2 April 2016
Premier League
West Ham United 2-2 Crystal Palace
Damien Delaney equaled his most goals scored in one season with his third of the season

Championship
Blackburn 1-2 Preston North End
Shane Duffy's red card in this game was the first time he was sent off in his career
After returning to the starting XI for Preston, Alan Browne has started as many games in 2015/16 for the Lilywhites (26) as in the previous two seasons combined (5 in 2013/14 and 21 in 2014/15)

Bolton 0-1 Reading
Stephen Quinn was booked for the third time this season in his twenty-fifth appearance of the season, but his performance was enough to include him in the WhoScored Championship Team of the Week

Championship Team of the Week - Gameweek 39 https://t.co/7094SxKrhN pic.twitter.com/VssdmME3GP

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) April 4, 2016

Hull City 4-0 Bristol City
Alex Pearce came off the bench for his first appearance since 23rd February, and was booked for the first time this season

Nottingham Forest 0-3 Brentford
Alan Judge made his one hundredth appearance for Brentford

Rotherham 2-1 Leeds United
Leon Best was booked for the first in more than two years, his last yellow card came in February 2014

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 Ipswich
David McGoldrick came off the bench for his first appearance since 12th December

League 1
Bradford City 1-0 Scunthorpe
Josh Cullen was booked for the fifth time this season

Chesterfield 4-2 Port Vale
Jay O'Shea scored his eighth goal of the season

Rochdale 2-2 Doncaster Rovers
Niall Canavan scored his first goal of the season

League 2
Bristol Rovers 3-0 Crawley
Liam Lawrence scored his first goal of the season, just over a year since his last strike in March 2015
Frankie Sutherland was booked for the first time since November 2014

Luton 0-1 Stevenage
Jake Mulraney made his first appearance for Stevenage and was booked for the first time this season

Scottish First Division
Dumbarton 0-0 Greenock Morton
Paul Heffernan made his first start for Dumbarton

Sunday, 3 April 2016
Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen 3-0 Hamilton Academical
Willo Flood returned from a hamstring injury for his first appearance in a month

Football League Trophy
Barnsley 3-2 Oxford United
Callum O'Dowda's eighth goal of the season in today's final will be some compensation for losing to Conor Hourihane's Barnsley

Australian A-League
Perth Glory 3-2 Melbourne City
Andy Keogh broke the A-League record with his eighth goal in consecutive games, which was also his tenth goal of the season

55' | Andy Keogh, take a bow son! That's 8 consecutive scoring games in a row, NEVER done before in this country! #PERvMCY #WestVsRest

— Perth Glory FC (@PerthGloryFC) April 3, 2016

Further Reading
Conor Hourihane: A Natural Born Leader - The Southern Star

176 - Jack Byrne gave more successful passes into the final third than any other Eredivisie player in 2016. Threat.

— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) April 2, 2016

March 2016 Appearance Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for March 2016

Wins
Andy Keogh's recent scoring streak meant he won all four of the games he started in March

Draws
Crawley Town's on loan midfielder Frankie Sutherland drew three League Two games in March, one more than Greg Cunningham, Matt Doherty, Stephen Quinn, Stephen Gleeson, John O'Sullivan (on loan at Bury) and Samir Carruthers

Losses
Inverness Caledonian Thistle's defender Daniel Devine lost four games in Match

Starts/Completed Games
Sutherland, Devine and Shane Duffy all started six games in March, and all three completed 90 minutes in each games

Substitutions/Introductions
Aiden McGeady was substituted three times for Sheffield Wednesday, one less than Cardiff striker Eoin Doyle came off the bench

Stayed On Bench
Alex Pearce didn't play a minute of Bristol City's four games in March, spending each one on the bench

Goals
Andy Keogh hasn't failed to score for Perth Glory since early February, including five goals in four games for them in March. Two of Keogh's goals were penalties, the same as Robbie Keane, and both players' goals led to wins for their respective sides when they scored. Leon Best's three goals in March were his first strikes since April 2014!

Discipline
Blackburn's midfielder Darragh Lenihan was booked four times in the six games he played in March, and has now been booked eight times since the beginning of February, having not been shown the yellow card at all this season before that

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 - Weekend of 26th February 2016

Friday, 26 February 2016
League 1
Port Vale 3-1 Southend United
Cian Bolger made his fiftieth appearance for Southend United

Australian A-League
Western Sydney Wanderers 2-1 Perth Glory
Andy Keogh scored his twentieth goal for Perth Glory from the penalty spot to equalise shortly after Wanderers had taken the lead, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to earn his side anything from the tie

Saturday, 27 February 2016
Premier League
Stoke City 2-1 Aston Villa
Glenn Whelan made his two hundred fiftieth start for Stoke City

Watford 0-0 Bournemouth
Harry Arter made his two hundredth appearance for Bournemouth

Southampton 1-2 Chelsea
Shane Long scored his tenth goal of the season

Championship
Blackburn 3-2 MK Dons
Samir Carruthers made his one hundredth appearance for MK Dons, and marked the occasion with his first goal of the season. This was the fifth goal of the midfielder's career, coming almost a year since his last goal in April 2015!

Bolton 1-2 Burnley
Stephen Ward made his twenty-fifth appearance for Burnley

Cardiff 2-1 Preston North End
Alan Browne made his fiftieth start for Preston, and unfortunately picked up his fourth booking of the season.
Anthony Pilkington's two penalties today (his seventh and eighth of the season, and third in his last three games) makes him the third player to manage the feat this season, after Robbie Keane in July and Cillian Sheridan in August

Rotherham 2-1 Brentford
Lee Frecklington returned from injury to start his game since 2nd January, along with Leon Best who made his first start for Rotherham in more than three months

League 1
Gillingham 1-2 Chesterfield
Emmanuel Osadebe's scored his second of the season, more than three months after his last goal on 14th November

League 2
AFC Wimbledon 1-2 Oxford United
Callum O'Dowda made his fiftieth start for Oxford in this win

Accrington Stanley 2-2 Barnet
Seamus Conneely made his fiftieth appearance for Accrington today

Leyton Orient 2-0 Crawley
Shamir Goodwin made his twenty-fifth career appearance as a second half substitute for Crawley Town

Newport Co. 1-0 Mansfield Town
Mark Byrne was booked for the fifth time this season

Plymouth 1-0 Notts County
Graham Carey scored the twenty-fifth goal of his career in England and Scotland, more than three months after his last goal for Plymouth

Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen 1-1 St Johnstone
Willo Flood returned to the Aberdeen starting XI with his first appearance for the Dons since 9th January

Cypriot Premier League
Enosis 1-4 Omonia Nicosia
Cillian Sheridan scored his tenth league goal of the season, with three more in the Europa League, more than a month since his last goal for Omonia Nicosia

Eredivisie
SC Cambuur 1-0 PEC Zwolle
Jack Byrne scored his second of the season. Coincidentally, his last goal came in Cambuur's last win on Sunday, 20th December

Further Reading
Sonny Pike on life as a football prodigy: ‘At 17 my head was finished. I was suicidal’ - The Guardian
Why Wes Hoolahan is more effective than Alexis Sanchez, and 11 other interesting stats - FourFourTwo

Round Up - Weekend of 20th February 2016

Saturday, 20 February 2016
Championship
Brentford 1-3 Derby County
This tie was the second time this season where three Irish players scored in the same game. That hasn't happened in one season since the 2012/13 season
Cyrus Christie scored his first goal for Derby County today, before that the defender hadn't scored since March 2013

Burnley 2-0 Rotherham
Leon Best came off the bench for Rotherham to make his first appearance in three months after recovering from an injury

MK Dons 0-2 Bristol City
Darren Potter received his fourth booking of the season, almost three months after his last yellow card

League 1
Bradford City 2-2 Rochdale
After signing for them on loan, Niall Canavan made his first start for Rochdale, before that the midfielder hadn't played a minute of football since starting an tie for parent club Scunthorpe on 2nd January

Chesterfield 3-1 Crewe Alexandra
Connor Dimaio celebrated his debut for Chesterfield with a the first goal of his career, and also weighed in with an assist. Congratulations Connor!

Fleetwood 2-1 Scunthorpe
Paddy Madden's eighteenth goal this season was his milestone fortieth goal for Scunthorpe!

Oldham 2-1 Gillingham
Bradley Garmston's start today for Gillingham was the defender's fiftieth career appearance

League 2 
Bristol Rovers 2-1 Morecambe
Rory Gaffney's eighth goal of the season was the former League of Ireland striker's first goal since 2nd January
Jamie Devitt's fifth goal of the season was his tenth goal for Morecambe

Cambridge United 3-1 York City
James Berrett scored his fifth goal of the season

Crawley 1-1 Plymouth
Shamir Goodwin scored his first goal for Crawley Town

English FA Cup 
Reading 3-1 West Bromwich Albion
Simon Cox made his fiftieth appearance for Reading in the same game Paul McShane scored his first goal for the club

Bournemouth 0-2 Everton
James McCarthy made his one hundredth appearance for Everton

Scottish Premiership
Kilmarnock 0-0 Dundee
Darren O'Dea's performance earned him a place in the BT Sport SPFL Team of the Week

#TEAMOFTHEWEEK @Fox1NtheBox @leehods2 @odea_darren @kierantierney1 (1/2) pic.twitter.com/iBIlIr7I3p

— BT Sport SPFL (@BTSportSPFL) February 22, 2016

Australian A-League
Perth Glory 6-3 Brisbane Roar
Andy Keogh scored his third goal in seven games since returning to Perth Glory

Sunday, 21 February 2016
Scottish First Division
Queen of the South 0-1 Rangers
Robbie Kiernan's booking this afternoon was his first yellow card in almost two months

English FA Cup
Blackburn 1-5 West Ham United
Shane Duffy made his fiftieth start for Blackburn, while Darragh Lenihan made his twenty-fifth career start

Monday, 22 February 2016
League 1
Southend United 3-1 Burton Albion
Cian Bolger made his one hundredth career start
David Mooney scored his seventh goal of the season, his first in almost two months

Further Reading
Premier League’s five best stand-in stoppers - football365.com
Two-touch penalties, imaginary cards, lazy subs: Football's unwritten rules - ESPN FC
Ruud Dokter: 'We want our best young players to go to United, Arsenal and Chelsea but UK not always the best step' - Irish Independent

Report Card - Weekend of 21 November 2015

We're trying something new here at Irish Abroad, every week we'll post some interesting, and not so interesting numbers from recent player appearances. We're hoping to include landmark appearances and goals, note returns from injury, and anything else that we notice!

Southampton 0-1 Stoke City
Follwing injury, Shane Long made his first appearance for Southampton since September 23

Leeds United 0-1 Rotherham United
Leon Best and Stephen Kelly made their first appearances since last season. Best last appeared as a sub on April 18, while Kelly hadn't lined out anywhere since April 28th. Best marked his appearance with the second red of his career, his last came for Blackburn in April 2013 against Watford
Former Ireland B international Lee Frecklington returned to Rotherham's starting XI after more than a month out, his last start for the Millers was on September 12

Milton Keynes Dons 1-1 Fulham
Following seven appearances as an unused substitute, defender Sean Kavanagh made his first start of the season for Fulham.

Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 Huddersfield Town
Sean Scannell opened his account for the season, scoring his first goal since April 11

Bury 1-0 Burton Albion
Callum Reilly made his first league start of the season, the midfielder had previously only started once for Burton, in the League Cup in August

Oldham Athletic 1-2 Barnsley
Loanees Kevin Long and Aiden White made their first appearances on loan at Barnsley. This was Long's first appearance following injury on 1st January 2015, and he marked the occasion with his first goal since January 2014!
Also finding the net in the same game were Mark Yeates, with his first of the season, and Conor Hourihane with his first goal since September

Port Vale 3-2 Chesterfield
Sam Kelly returned to the Port Vale starting XI, his first appearance in nine weeks, and scored the first goal of his professional career!

Crawley Town 2-1 Bristol Rovers
Rhys Murphy scored twice against Bristol Rovers, his fifth and sixth goals on loan at Crawley Town

Notts County 1-2 Northampton Town
Ronan Murray came off the bench to make his first appearance of the season for Notts County
Brendan Moloney scored his first goal of the season, his first goal since February 21

Dundee United 1-2 St Johnstone
Gavin Gunning made his one hundredth appearance for Dundee United

Irish Abroad player appearance statistics half way report for 2014/15 season

Appearance data for 2014/15 season to date: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=13
We're midway through the 2014/15 season in England and Scotland, so how have the Irish players been performing across the water, and around the world?
Anthony Stokes is leading the wins, starting 17 wins this season for Celtic in the SPL, just ahead of Derby duo Richard Keogh and Cyrus Christie, and Aberdeen's Jonathan Hayes. Stokes has also been substituted more than any other player, he was withdrawn from the action in 14 of his 25 starts, while fellow striker has been introduced more than any other player, coming off the bench 17 times this season - that's six more than any other player
John O'Shea has started 11 draws for Sunderland, just ahead of Paul Green and Keiren Westwood on 10
David Forde has unfortunately started 12 losses for Millwall, just ahead of Shaun Williams and Alex Pearce, both starting ten losses so far this season
Forde's fellow Lion Alan Dunne has been shown the most yellow cards, the Millwall defender has been booked eight times in his 21 starts
Richard Keogh has started 28 of Derby County's 29 games this season, with fellow Ram Cyrus Christie in second on 27 starts. Remarkably Keogh completed 90 minutes in all but one of these, with Christie playing the whole game in each of his 27 starts
Unsurprisingly, two goalkeepers have been unused substitutes the most this season, Colin Doyle and Jack Bonham have both been left on the subs bench 27 times in 2014/15 so far. Doyle has three starts to his name, while Bonham has yet to feature. Of the outfield players, Daniel Devine is the most unused substitute, the Inverness Caledonian Thistle player has been left on the bench 17 times, and is also yet to feature for his club
Daryl Murphy and Adam Rooney have both found the net 17 times for their respective clubs. What makes Murphy's record more impressive is it does not include a single penalty, while Rooney's total includes four finishes from 12 yards. The strike duo have similar results from the games in which they scored - 10 wins and a single loss, while Murphy's goals have also contributed to two draws for Ipswich. Anthony Stokes and Andy Keogh's goals have led to wins in 100% of the games in which they scored - seven wins from seven games