Report Card - Week of 28th December 2015

28 December 2015
Championship
Birmingham City 1-0 MK Dons
Samir Carruthers received his first booking since September

Burnley 4-0 Bristol City
Stephen Ward made his first league start of the season, and the first time he started for the Clarets since a League Cup game in August

Reading 1-2 Brentford
Stephen Quinn picked up his first booking of the season

League 1
Burton Albion 1-0 Swindon Town
Anthony O'Connor made his one hundred fiftieth career appearance

Southend United 0-4 Millwall
Aiden O'Brien scored his tenth goal of 2015/16. The Lions frontman had promised to score ten goals before January, and delivered with their last game of 2015!

Barnsley 4-2 Blackpool
Kevin Long's booking this afternoon was his first of the season, and his first in more than two and a half years, the last coming on the 29th Mar 2013!

Gillingham 1-0 Colchester
After his 100th career appearance on St. Stephen's Day, John Egan made his one hundredth career start this afternoon!

Oldham 1-2 Doncaster Rovers
After a successful loan spell at Crawley Town (nine goals in 16 games), Rhys Murphy returned to the Oldham starting XI for the first time since September and marked the occasion with his eleventh goal of the season

Scunthorpe 1-1 Rochdale
Paddy Madden made his one hundredth start for Scunthorpe. The move to the Irons has been a success for the striker, he's scored 36 goals for them since signing for them from Yeovil

League 2
Bristol Rovers 2-1 Leyton Orient
Rory Gaffney scored his fifth of the season, and his third in the last three games

Notts County 2-2 Morecambe
Graham Burke made his twenty-fifth start for Notts County

Portsmouth 0-0 Luton
Michael Doyle made his twenty-fifth appearance for Portsmouth was marred slightly with his first booking since September. This game also marked a return to the starting XI for Adam Barton. His last start for Pompey came on October 20th against Stevenage

29 December 2015
Championship
Leeds United 2-2 Derby County
Jeff Hendrick's opener for Derby tonight (his first of the season) was his twenty-fifth goal for the club. His yellow card tonight was his first booking in exactly four months, the last one coming on August 29th

30 December 2015
Scottish Premier League
Hamilton Academical 3-4 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Daniel Devine made his fiftieth start for the Jags

Further reading:
Paul Kimmage with Kevin Moran
The changing face of sports coverage in Ireland in 2015

Irish Abroad Round Up - 26th December 2015

26 December 2015 
Premier League
Southampton 4-0 Arsenal
Shane Long scored his second brace of the season, and his first in the league since May 2014. The former Cork City player also picked up his first booking of the season

Championship
Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 Birmingham City
This was the first league game Kieren Westwood missed for the Owls since September (he is rested for their cup games) and the first league game this season that Stephen Gleeson did not appear for Birmingham.

League 1
Doncaster Rovers 0-1 Scunthorpe
Stephen Dawson returned to the Scunthorpe starting XI for his first appearance since August 19th, and marked his return with his first booking of the season. Likewise, Niall Canavan picked up his first yellow card of 2015/16

Millwall 0-1 Walsall
Liam Kinsella came off the bench for Walsall to make his first appearance since October 10th

Shrewsbury 1-1 Fleetwood
Liam McAlinden's first start since October 6th was also his twenty-fifth career start

Swindon Town 1-3 Gillingham
John Egan's start away to the Robins was his one hundredth career appearance

League  2
Dagenham & Redbridge 0-3 Cambridge United
Barry Corr's goal this afternoon was the 90th of his career! Congratulations Barry, the ton is in sight!

Further Reading
Rob Elliot is not just for Christmas, he's for life at Newcastle
Andy Reid set for groin operation in America
Picture Perfect - Jon Walters is the Times' Player of the Year (subscription required)

Report Card - Week of 15 December 2015

15 December 2015
Championship
Hull City 2-1 Reading
Niall Keown made his first appearance of the season on the bench for Reading

16 December 2015
Championship
Cardiff 3-2 Brentford
Anthony Pilkington's yellow card was his first booking since September 15

League Two 
Wycombe Wanderers 2-2 Notts County
Alan Sheehan made his 300th career appearance

English FA Cup
Scunthorpe 3-0 Leyton Orient
Paddy Madden made his one hundred fiftieth start since moving to England

Walsall 0-0 Chesterfield
Coincidentally, Jay O'Shea also made his one hundred fiftieth career start in England, and marked the occasion with his first booking of the season!

Shrewsbury 1-0 Grimsby
Liam Lawrence was shown his first yellow card of the season

Further reading
Duncan Casey: You’d better make sure you’re ready when the bubble bursts
Five Man United rejects thriving in the PL (includes Robbie Brady)
Top 10 Premier League Captains - according to former referee Mark Halsey

Report Card - Weekend of 11th December 2015

12 December 2015
Premier League
Norwich 1-1 Everton
Wes Hoolahan scored his second of the season, exactly two months since his last goal for the Canaries

Bournemouth 2-1 Manchester United
Eunan O'Kane made his first appearance since October 25, coming on for fellow Irish player Harry Arter

Sunderland 0-1 Watford
As noted by online statistican OptaJoe, John O'Shea became only the third Irish player to reach 400 Premier League appearances with his start in this game

400 - John O’Shea will be the third Republic of Ireland player to reach 400 PL apps after Shay Given (443) & Richard Dunne (431). Charm.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 12, 2015

Championship
Preston 1-0 Reading
U17 midfielder Josh Barrett made his first appearance on the Reading bench

League 1
Gillingham 0-3 Burton Albion
Damien McCrory made his one hundred fiftieth start for Burton Albion, while defender Anthony O'Connor scored his first goal for the club. This was his first goal since 14th April 2015, when the full back scored for Plymouth Argyle against Portsmouth

Swindon Town 2-1 Rochdale
John O'Sullivan was sent off for the first time in his career

League 2
Crawley 3-2 Dagenham and Redbridge
Rhys Murphy's first goal in this game for Crawley was the thirtieth of his career. With the second, he has now scored five goals in his last four appearances for Crawley*

Notts County 4-3 Newport Co.
Graham Burke made his twenty-fifth start of his career

Yeovil 2-2 Barnet
Ian Lawlor signed on loan for Barnet from Manchester City, and went straight into the starting XI to make his first career start

Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen 1-0 Hearts
Jonathan Hayes picked up his first booking of the season

Dundee United 0-1 Partick Thistle
After his fourth start since returning to Dundee United during the summer, Gavin Gunning has now made 100 starts for the Arabs

*source: Sky Sports Soccer Saturday, thanks Jeff.

Report Card - 8th December 2015

Tuesday, 8th December 2015
Fleetwood Town 2-0 Morecambe
Winger Jimmy Ryan scored his first goal in almost three months, his last strike came on Saturday, September 12 against Bradford City

Oxford United 3-2 Yeovil Town
Fellow winger Callum O'Dowda scored his first goal since finding the back of the net against Ryan's former club Accrington Stanley on October 3rd

Further Reading
What exactly went wrong when Steve Finnan went to Espanyol?
Profile of an icon: Paul McGrath
Damien Delaney and Robbie Brady in the WhoScored list of most improved players
Euro 2016 - The Group E-ffect 

Report Card - Weekend of 4th December 2015

4th December 2015
FA Cup
Salford City 1-1 Hartlepool United
Former Ireland international defender Stephen O'Halloran scored his first goal for Salford City

5th December 2015
Premier League
Stoke City 2-0 Manchester City
Former Manchester City player Glenn Whelan captained his current side Stoke City to victory over his former side in his 200th league start for the Potters

Watford 2-0 Norwich City
Robbie Brady was shown his first yellow card in almost a year. The winger's last booking came on 26th December 2014

West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
James McClean scored his first goal for West Brom since signing for them in the summer. McClean's hadn't scored since netting against Blackpool for Wigan on February 28th

Championship
Bolton Wanderers 2-3 Cardiff City
Anthony Pilkington goal was his first in almost two months, having not found the back of the net since September 12th

Brentford 2-0 Milton Keynes Dons
Alan Judge's scored his seventh goal of the season, and his first in just over a month

Brighton and Hove Albion 3-2 Charlton Athletic
Stephen Henderson had gone more than a year since his last booking, which came on 18 October 2014

Report Card - Weekend of 28th November 2015

Premier League
Manchester City 3-1 Southampton
Shane Long scored his fifth goal of the season, his first since 23rd September, on what was his 25th start for Southampton!

Championship
Charlton Athletic 0-3 Ipswich Town
Daryl Murphy scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season, and his third in his last two games. The second of his brace was his eightieth in club football in England and Scotland!

Rotherham United 3-0 Bristol City
Lee Frecklington scored his first goal of the season. Before this, he hadn't scored since 28th April

League One
Barnsley 1-1 Sheffield United
Conor Hourihane scored his twentieth goal for Barnsley, having earlier missed a penalty

Millwall 1-0 Bury
Shaun Williams's winner was his first goal since 26th September

Rochdale 2-1 Port Vale
On loan Blackburn winger John O'Sullivan made his first appearance for Rochdale, which was his first start anywhere since the 11th August. He also picked up a booking, his first yellow card in almost a year, the last one coming on 20th December 2014 while playing for Accrington against Wycombe

League Two
Cambridge United 3-1 Notts County
Barry Corr scored his tenth goal of the season

Exeter City 1-1 Bristol Rovers
Rory Gaffney made his first appearance on loan at Bristol Rovers

Wycombe Wanderers 2-2 Portsmouth
Michael Harriman's scored his first goal since September 29th

York City 1-5 Accrington Stanley
Kenneth McEvoy made his first start of the season, on loan at York City. This is the Spurs winger's first appearance since playing on loan at Stevenage in September, and his first start in over a year

Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen 3-1 Ross County
Adam Rooney scored his tenth goal of the season

Dundee United 1-2 Hamilton Academical
Gavin Gunning's booking against the Accies was his first since 17th May 2014!

Kilmarnock 2-5 Partick Thistle
Mark Connolly scored his first goal of the season. It was his first goal in over a year, his last coming on 3rd October 2014

Report Card - 24th November 2015

Peterborough United 3-2 Barnsley
After not scoring for nearly two months, Conor Hourihane now has two in two games with his fifth goal of the season. His last two goals also came in consecutive games
Following his return to action last weekend, Kevin Long was sent off for the third time in his career. His last red card came in August 2012, while playing with Portsmouth, against Carlisle

Sheffield United 2-4 Shrewsbury Town
Conor Sammon scored his fifth goal on loan at Sheffield United

Crawley Town 1-2 Northampton Town
John-Joe O'Toole scored his fifth goal for Northampton, his first since September 29th

Notts County 4-2 Barnet
Graham Burke made his twenty-fifth appearance for Notts County, after joining them in January 2015
Alan Sheehan scored the twentieth goal of his career, not bad for a defender!

Oxford United 1-1 Newport County AFC
Patrick Hoban scored his fifth goal this season for Oxford

Crawley Town 1-2 Northampton Town
Brendan Moloney was sent off for the first time in his career

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