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High flying Middlesbrough and Darren Randolph retained top spot in the Championship despite being held to a scoreless draw at home to Rotherham United on Tuesday evening. The visitors included loanees Ryan Manning and Richie Towell in their starting eleven with Anthony Forde a late substitute. Millwall duo Aiden O’Brien, a half time substitute and Shaun Williams who started, helped their struggling club to come from behind and defeat visitors Wigan Athletic by two goals to one at the New Den. O’Brien earned the penalty which enabled Williams to equalise and both made significant contributions in a much improved second half performance. Norwich City came from behind to defeat visitors Aston Villa by two goals to one at Carrow Road where Conor Hourihane and Glenn Whelan started and Scott Hogan was a fifty fourth minute substitute for Villa. Another Irish trio, John Egan, Enda Stevens and David McGoldrick were in the Sheffield United side for their one all draw with visitors Stoke City for whom James McClean was in action. Weekend match winning goal scorer Darragh Lenihan was injured off after just twelve minutes for Blackburn Rovers while Derrick Williams was unused on the bench as they went down to a three one defeat by  Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.
In the First Division, the emerging Ronan Curtis and his Portsmouth colleagues were held to a two all draw by visitors Burton Albion in Fratton Park while north of the border, U21 centre back and Burnley loanee Jimmy Dunne was in action for current leaders Heart of Midlothian who secured a three nil victory at Dundee in the Scottish Premiership. Colin Doyle and Jake Mulraney were on the visiting bench while Darren O’Dea started for Dundee.   

The two delayed Airtricity League Premier Division contests took place this Monday evening with Bray Wanderers securing a two one victory over Derry City in the Carlisle Grounds while Sligo Rovers and Bohemian played out a one all draw in the Showgrounds.

Our U17 Women, led by Head Coach Colin Bell, commenced their 2019 European Championship qualifying campaign with a crushing fourteen nil victory over an abysmal Albania this Monday morning in the National Sports Centre of Serbia. The catalogue of Irish goalscorers reads:- Eabha O’Mahoney 3′(p), 45’+1′ Emily Whelan 7′, 25′, 52′ Emily Kraft 9′, 40′, 48′, 50′ Jessica Ziu 21′, 66′ (p) Katelyn Keogh 85′, 87′ Mia Dodd 90’+3′. In the other Group Seven fixture, the host nation Serbia defeated Wales by four goals to nil, again in the National Sports Centre. Ireland will next meet Wales in the NSC at 11am on Thursday the 25th October 2018.

Goodison Park hosted the Premier League meeting of Everton and Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon with Seamus Coleman back in the starting eleven following his injury absence while the return of James McCarthy to competitive action for the hosts after his lengthy absence following his broken leg injury earlier this year must wait at least another week. A fairly uninspiring match was settled in the closing minutes with two very late goals securing victory for the hosts.  

Shane Long was a seventy eight minute substitute for Southampton who made the short South Coast journey to face AFC Bournemouth and played out a scoreless draw in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon. Cardiff City included Harry Arter in their starting eleven with Greg Cunningham an unused substitute for the four two victory over visitors Fulham for whom Cyrus Christie was also an unused substitute. Burnley included Jeff Hendrick in their starting eleven with Kevin Long on the bench as they crashed to a five nil defeat at Manchester City.  Meanwhile Robbie Brady continues his fitness quest following his lengthy injury absence. The thigh injury sustained by Ciaran Clark in Ireland training last week ruled him out of the one nil home defeat by visitors Brighton & Hove Albion for whom fellow centre back Shane Duffy was in his customery defensive position. West Ham United included the internationally troubled Declan Rice in their side for the one nil home defeat by visitors Tottenham Hotspur while Wolverhampton Wanderers wing back Matt Doherty was withdrawn after seventy two minutes of their two nil home defeat by visitors Watford at Molineaux. 

Blackburn Rovers defeated Championship visitors Leeds United by two goals to one in the noon kick-off at Ewood Park today. The winning goal was scored by Darragh Lenihan on seventy minutes but fellow defender Derrick Williams was an unused substitute. The new Aston Villa management team of Dean Smith and John Terry started their reign with a one nil home victory over Swansea City with Conor Hourihane seeing just a few minutes of late action while Scott Hogan and Glenn Whelan remained on the substitute bench. Following the head injury sustained by Callum O’Dowda after just four minutes of the scoreless draw with Denmark, he missed out for his club Bristol City who scored the only goal at Brentford for whom Alan Judge was an unused substitute. The Preston North End duo of Alan Browne and Sean Maguire both started while Graham Burke and Callum Robinson were on the substitute bench in their one all draw at Hull City. David Meyler was an unused substitute for Reading who defeated visitors Millwall by three goals to one. Shaun Williams started for the ‘Lions’ with Aiden O’Brien a late substitute. Loanee Richie Towell recovered from injury and started for Rotherham United, while fellow loanee Ryan Manning was a late substitute for their one all draw with visitors Bolton Wanderers who included Marc Wilson in their starting eleven. James McClean started for Stoke City in their one nil home defeat by visitors Birmingham City while the late kick-off featured Richard Keogh in action for hosts Derby County who defeated visitors Sheffield United and their Irish trio of John Egan, Enda Stevens and David McGoldrick by two goals to one.

We also kept an eye on League One leaders Portsmouth for whom Ronan Curtis started their one nil victory over visitors Fleetwood Town which saw them go five points clear at the top of the league table.

 

The outcome of the third and fourth place Airtricity Premier Division battle between Shamrock Rovers and Waterford was decided in Tallaght Stadium this Friday evening when the ‘Hoops’ defeated their challengers by three goals to one to go six points clear of the ‘Blues’ with just one match remaining. The RTE 2 cameras were in Oriel Park where Dundalk collected their already won League Championship Trophy after crushing a youthful Sligo Rovers by five goals to nil. Second place Cork City travelled to the Brandywell where they defeated their hosts Derry City by three goals to nil while relegated Bray Wanderers were crushed by five goals to nil by  Bohemian in the Carlisle Grounds with Dinny Corcoran scoring four. The remaining contest saw Limerick go down to a four nil defeat by visitors St Patrick’s Athletic in the Markets Field.