Updated: Tuesday, 16 Dec 2014 10:12 | Comments
By Rob Wright
It was something of a week to forget for Irish Premier League players as victories were few and far between for members of Martin O'Neill's squad.
With Stephen Reid and Stephen Ward not featuring in Burnley's 1-0 win against Southampton, Everton duo Seamus Coleman and Aiden McGeady were the only Irish internationals to be on the winning side in the English top flight.
Both Irish Everton played shone in their side's 3-1 victory over QPR. McGeady in particular worked tirelessly in midfield and his cross helped Stephen Naismith score the Toffee's third.
Coleman offered his usual attacking swagger down the right wing as well as being strong and dependable in defence. The former Sligo Rovers man will consider himself unlucky not to have scored, forcing a good save from Robert Green last on with powerful drive.
At the Hawthorns there was disappointment for Ciaran Clark as his Aston Villa side went down 1-0 in a derby encounter with West Brom.
Clark can be pleased with his personal performance as he turned in another composed display at centre-back after his side were reduced to 10-men with the sending off of Kieran Richardson.
The Irish international was moved to left-back with the introduction of Ron Vlaar, in a move designed to give his side an extra attacking threat and he helped to create Villa's best chance of equalising, heading a free-kick into the path of Christian Benteke but the striker could only flick his shot wide.
Jonathan Walters and Marc Wilson both featured in Stoke City's disappointing 1-1 draw with strugglers Crystal Palace. Wilson was restored to the defensive line having missed last week's game with Arsenal and coped relatively well with the Eagles attack but there was little he could about the home side's goal on 11 minutes.
Up front Walters delivered the kind of performance that has become his hallmark, working tirelessly and holding up the ball, helping to bring others into play. The frontman helped to create Stoke's equaliser minutes after they went behind and his shot took a deflection and kindly fell into the path of Peter Crouch who slotted home.
At Stamford Bridge, most people would have expected Hull to be on a hiding to nothing against Chelsea but given that they were reduced to ten-man on the hour mark, they may well be glad to have escaped with a 2-0 defeat.
David Meyler turned in a hard-working display for the Tigers in a midfield that was often overrun by Chelsea's numbers, but he struggled to help create anything, despite his willing runs. Robbie Brady was introduced as a second-half substitute after Tom Huddlestone had been sent off, to help shore up the numbers in midfield, but by that stage it was all about damage control.
Sunderland captain John O'Shea has been in fine form recently and extended that run with another impressive performance in his side's 1-1 draw against West Ham.
O'Shea recovered from a slightly shaky start after his weak defensive header allowed Carl Jenkinson to get through on goal for a chance he really should have taken.
However after that O'Shea was nearly faultless and he dealt with the recently reinvigorated Andy Carroll admirably, dominating the English striker in the air and kept his chances to a minimum.
In the Championship, surprise package Brentford claimed their sixth league win in seven games at it was midfielder Jonathan Douglas who set them on their way against his former team Blackburn, scoring the opener in a 3-1 win.
Douglas' fifth goal of the season was a simple tap-in but he also played a role in his side's third, as his tackle on Craig Conway saw the ball break to Brentford striker Jota who converted to make sure of the points.
Former Ireland Under-21 Alan Judge also featured against Blackburn and he was part of a move that saw Douglas put through on goal for what would have been his side's fourth goal had the Blackburn goalkeeper not denied him.
Despite seeing his side concede three times, Blackburn's Shane Duffy was decent in defence and the centre back made several crucial challenges. In particular, his last-ditch challenge on Andre Gray which kept his side in the game at 2-1, stood out.
Birmingham City goalkeeper Darren Randolph has been one of his side's stand out players this season but had one of his quieter days as the Blues beat Reading 6-1. Randolph will have been disappointed to concede from an first half-header but with Dubliner Stephen Gleeson helping to run things in midfield, Birmingham were rarely troubled.
Reading striker Simon Cox endured a frustrating afternoon, devoid of any meaningful service although with his side trailing 1-0 he was offered a chance that he really should have converted, instead he hit his shot straight at Randolph.
With the scoreline at 6-1 after the hour mark, Alex Pearce was introduced to help prevent further damage, a job which he performed well, helping to steady the ship at the back.
Mick McCarthy's Ipswich Town missed the chance to go top of the Champions after they drew 0-0 with Bolton Wanderers.
Jay Tabb had Ipswich's best chances to score and will be disappointed not to have taken at least one of them. The former Irish Under-21 midfielder first saw a close range shot and then a header kept out by Bolton goalkeeper Andy Lonergan.
Ipswich attacker Daryl Murphy was also frustrated by the Bolton goalkeeper as his lofted effort was tipped over the crossbar.
Millwall goalkeeper David Forde kept a clean sheet in Friday's 1-0 victory over fellow relegation strugglers Brighton and Hove Albion. Forde made several important saves, denying Joao Teixeira and Jake Forster-Caskey on several occasions.
Shaun Williams also played his part for the Lions in defence as they claimed a result that helped put five points between them and the relegation zone.
Sheffield Wednesday's goalkeeper Kieren Westwood has been the subject of speculation on his future with several Premier League clubs believed to be interested in his services after a sparkling season at Hillsborough.
Westwood's manager recently moved to insist he is not for sale and despite being on the losing side as Wednesday went down 1-0 to Wolves, he again underlined his importance to the Owls with another big performance. Unfortunate to be denied another clean sheet, Westwood nevertheless made a string of good saves and was again dominant and commanding in the penalty area.
Watford, without Keith Andrews, Tommie Hoban or Sean Murray claimed a 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic. Chris McCann was on the mark for Wigan, heading home from a James McClean cross to claim an equaliser just before half-time but his side were unable to hold out for a point
McClean moved from out wide and played in a more advanced role in the second-half but despite forcing several important saves from Heurelho Gomes, he could not find a way through.
A stunning strike from outside the penalty area from Billy Clarke gave Bradford all three points in their League One encounter against Chesterfield, as they ran out 1-0 winners. Marking his 27th birthday in style, Clarke took the ball out of the air with neat control before turning and unleashing an unstoppable left-footed effort into the top corner.
Chesterfield's Irish contingent, Jimmy Ryan, Eoin and James O'Shea all had chances of their own but none of them were able to make it count. The best of those chances fell to O'Shea after he was put through on goal by Doyle but he saw his effort spectacularly tipped over the bar.
And Oldham's veteran goalkeeper Paddy Kenny had to pick the ball out of his net four times as his side were overrun by a Yeovil side still mired within the relegation zone.
Former Republic of Ireland under-18 Sam Foley featured for Yeovil and his cornerkick which led to their opening goal as well as dragging a great save from Kenny who tipped his curling effort around the post with the score at 3-0.
Paddy Madden may not have been on the scoresheet but he was the star of the show as his Scunthorpe side overcame Crewe Alexandra 2-1. The former Bohemians player was at the centre of side's attacking threat and created their opening goal as his clever cut-back presented Luke Williams with a chance he couldn't miss.
Madden also won over some younger Scunthorpe fans at the weekend donating a pair of his boots to the winner of a dance competition at the club's junior supporters Christmas party.
In Scotland Adam Rooney bagged an impressive brace, driving his Aberdeen side to a 2-0 win against Dundee United and lifting them up to third place in the SPL. Rooney was alert to pounce on a goalkeeping error for the opener before he combined with former Ireland Under-21 Johnny Hayes to score a straight forward tap-in saw him double the Dons' lead.
Anthony Stokes was another Irish striker on the mark in Scotland as he claimed his sixth league goal of the season in Celtic's 4-1 victory against bottom side St Mirren. Stokes was impressive throughout, helping to set-up the opener as he picked out Scott Brown from the left wing before the Celtic skipper blasted the ball to the back of the net.
Stokes' goal came in the 67th minute when confidently blasted the ball home after an error in the St Mirren defence.
Elsewhere Derry City midfielder Michael Duffy looks set to return to Celtic for a second trial period after impressing during an initial spell there. "It was great and before I left I was told that Celtic would be asking me to return to play in a match hopefully before Christmas, but more probably before January," Duffy told the Derry Journal.
It was a turbulent weekend for Celtic's Old Firm rivals Rangers. Not only did they lose 2-0 to Queen of the South but manager Ally McCoist has since tendered his resignation. Irish striker Jon Daly started that game but made no impact as was substituted on 58 minutes.
Melbourne City midfielder Damien Duff has been ruled out of action until the New Year after suffering a calf tear, which rules him out of his team's busy Christmas period including a St Stephen's Day encounter with Andy Keogh's Perth Glory.
Keogh shone in the Glory's 2-0 win over Newcastle Jets, creating their second goal with some good hold-up play before slipping the ball through to Serbian Nebojsa Marinkovic who drilled it home.
Finally in Malaysia, Sabah Rhinos manager George O'Callaghan is continuing his side's pre-season campaign ahead of the start of the domestic Premier League season.
O'Callaghan's squad, including the likes of El Hadji Diouf and former Stoke defender Abdoulaye Faye along with Eamon Zayed completed a tour of China and are now back home preparing for the start of the new season.
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