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