Updated: Tuesday, 13 Jan 2015 10:46 | Comments
By Rob Wright
It was a something of a week to forget for Irish Premier League players as Crystal Palace's Damien Delaney was the only Republic of Ireland international to feature for a winning side in the English top flight.
With club captain Mile Jedinak away on international duty Delaney was again handed the skipper's armband and turned in a fine display in the Eagle's defence and his side claimed a surprise 2-1 victory over London rivals Tottenham.
Delaney was thoroughly commanding in the air and after his side went behind, helped to restrict Spurs to few clear-cut chances. He was guilty of losing possession in a move that lead to Tottenham's goal, but recovered well after that and was consistently solid.
Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark had a less enjoyable afternoon as his side went down 1-0 to relegation candidates and he came out second best in a personal duel with David Nugent.
Clark struggled to deal with Nugent's physicality up front as was lucky that the Leicester striker had an off-day in front of goal. To compound matters Clark was shown a red card in the dying stages of the game as he picked up a second booking when he squared up to Matty James who himself was sent-off for a horror tackle on Jores Okore.
It was a similar story for veteran QPR central defender Richard Dunne who at times was run ragged by Burnley's front line in his side's 2-1 defeat at Turf Moor.
Dunne struggled throughout against Ashley Barnes and Danny Ings and was at fault for Burnley's opening goal as he allowed Scott Arfield to dance past him with the ball before curling a low shot to the inside of the far post. The former Manchester City defender looked every one of his 35 years and was well off the pace throughout.
Sunderland's John O'Shea was on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline as his side were well beaten by Liverpool, who could have won by a bigger margin were it not for some poor finishing.
O'Shea's defence dealt well with the threat of lone striker Fabio Borini and the Irish international came out on top in his personal battle with the Italian, but struggled with the runners from midfield and was often overwhelmed. The Sunderland skipper did have a chance late on to rescue a point as he slid in and went close to making a telling connection with a corner, but couldn't quite get there.
After a Christmas period in which he struggled at times for form, Everton's Seamus Coleman appears to be back to himself after turning in a decent display to help his side to a 1-1 draw with Champions Manchester City.
Coleman produced the kind of defensive display that was his hallmark last season and ably marshalled the City attack. Indeed the former Sligo Rovers player will consider himself unlucky not to have scored as he saw his first-half effort crash back off the crossbar with Joe Hart beaten.
Aiden McGeady endured a less fruitful day as he struggled to make any meaningful impact up against Gael Clichy and he was eventually substituted for Kevin Mirallas.
Glenn Whelan, Jonathan Walters and Stephen Ireland all featured for Stoke in their league trip to Arsenal but were to leave London disappointed as their side was soundly beaten 3-0.
Whelan and Walters were both handed starting places but struggled to make any kind of impact against an Arsenal team that appears to be hitting form. Whelan was often swamped in midfield and denied much time on the ball although he could and perhaps should have got his name on the scoresheet in the first half but showed a lack of composure in front of goal when in a good position.
Walters meanwhile was starved of possession and although he never stopped working up front, space and time on the ball was at a premium for the striker who was reduced to half-chances and snapshots.
Ireland was introduced as a second-half substitute after the damage had already been done and his side trailed by three goals, but he looked alert and lively on the ball and forced a fine save from David Ospena in the Arsenal goal late on.
David Meyler, Stephen Quinn and Robbie Brady all featured in Hull City's 1-0 defeat to fellow relegation candidates West Brom with none of the trio particularly impressing.
Quinn struggled throughout, failing to exert any influence on the game from the left side of midfield while Meyler fared slightly better but was often wasteful in possession and gave the ball away far too much. Brady was introduced as a second-half substitute with his side chasing the game and almost made a telling contribution, but his angled shot was just tipped over the bar by Baggies goalkeeper Ben Foster.
In the Championship, Mick McCarthy's Ipswich were leapfrogged by Derby County into second place with a 1-0 win that ended Ipswich's 11-match unbeaten run.
There was plenty of Irish representation on both sides as the Ipswich quintet of Luke Chambers, Daryl Murphy, Stephen Hunt, David McGoldrick and Jay Tabb all played while Richard Keogh, Cyrus Christie and Jeff Hendrick featured for Derby.
Ipswich will consider themselves unlucky to have lost and both Tabb and McGoldrick went close for the Tractor Boys in the first half, but Keogh and Christie both defended stoutly and mostly reduced their opponents to half-chances and long range efforts.
Derby's Keogh was lucky to avoid conceding a penalty when it appeared he handled the ball in the penalty area after the break and despite being reduced to 10-men when John Eustace was sent-off for pulling down McGoldrick for a second yellow card, the visitors held on.
Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Kieran Westwood again underlined his importance to the Owls' promotion hopes as he kept a clean sheet with several fine save in his team's 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.
Westwood has been linked with a move away from Hillsborough in the transfer window, and despite his insistence that he has no desire to leave, the rumours won't go away and on this form you can see why.
With the game still scoreless, Westwood produced a fine reaction save to deny Robert Tesche from close range and then denied Michail Antoni from a header and was more than equal to Jamie Paterson's late effort.
Westwood's biggest rival for the Ireland goalkeeper jersey, David Forde, saw his side Millwall side lose 1-0 to Blackpool, a result which leaves the Lions in the relegation zone. The goalkeeper could do little about the game's only goal as Peter Clarke headed home from a free-kick, but he did well to concede just one, making several fine saves, including an early one from an Andrea Orlandi effort.
Darren O'Dea, fresh from signing a new deal with Blackpool, started the game, but lasted just 21 minutes after taking a heavy knock to the ankle, while former Ireland Under-21 Charles Dunne had a decent game at left-back as he made a rare start.
Birmingham's Irish shot-stopper Darren Randolph also impressed in goal as he helped his side to a 3-1 victory over Wigan.
Randolph was beaten by his international team-mate James McClean who scored with a fine curling effort from the edge of the penalty area as his side were trailing 2-0 but despite having several other chances to score, McClean was frustrated by the Birmingham goalkeeper.
Stephen Gleeson had a solid afternoon in the Blues' defence, but Rob Kiernan had an off day for Wigan and was often anonymous for the Latics.
At the John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield's Sean Scannell put some indifferent Christmas form behind him with a stand-out performance in his side's impressive 3-1 victory over Watford.
Scannell helped to control the game from midfield and his surging runs down the right caused no end of problems for Tommy Hoban and the rest of the Watford defence. The only thing missing from Scannell's game was the finish as he went close early on with several chances.
The midfielder was also on hand to help out defensively and he helped to keep Watford's attacking full-back Daniel Pudil quiet.
Meanwhile, Keith Andrews' spell at Watford looks set to come to a close as the Bolton player appears to be on the verge of a loan move to MK Dons. Andrews was frozen out at Watford and denied the chance to even train with the first team squad after falling out with manager Slavisa Jokanovic.
Jonathan Douglas' Brentford side ended a three-game losing streak as they edged to a 1-0 victory against a Rotherham team in which Paul Green featured.
Douglas made the bigger impression as he helped to create several decent chances for his side with some incisive passing from midfield. The Monaghan native went close to scoring himself only to be denied by a goal-line clearance from Kari Arnason.
Green had less of an attacking impact, playing as a defensive midfielder shielding his back-line. but he did have his side's best chance of the game late on with his flashing header forcing a save from David Button which Rotherham manager Steve Evans hailed as the best of the season.
"There was the save of the season for me when Paul Green gets a header on target," he said. "I don't know how their goalkeeper saves it and I'm right behind it. I think it must be his best ever save because if he makes them better than that than he wouldn't be playing with Brentford, would he, with all due respect to him."
In League One Eoin Doyle continued his goal-scoring form with his 18th of the season as Chesterfield bagged a comprehensive 3-0 win over Port Vale and moved to within a point of the play-off places.
Doyle has been heavily linked with a move to Celtic, but Chesterfield are likely to attempt to see off any such move given how important the former Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers player is to their promotion hopes.
The Irish striker drew a foul in the penalty area from Freddie Veseli on the hour mark before he got up and converted the spot-kick himself to ensure that he remains the top goal scorer in England, one ahead of Daryl Murphy who has 17 goals this season.
Paddy Madden was another former League of Ireland player to score from the penalty spot as his Scunthorpe side impressed in their 4-1 victory over Walsall. Limerick's Anthony Forde featured for Walsall, but faded after a lively started and was substituted with 20 minutes to go.
Barnsley's Conor Hourihane bagged his eleventh goal of the season, again from the penalty spot, as his side claimed a 2-0 win against bottom side Yeovil. Like Doyle, the Barnsley captain won and then converted the spot-kick.
Crawley Town defender and former Republic of Ireland Under-21 defender Lanre Oyebanjo helped his side to a 2-2 draw with MK Dons despite having a striker in goal for over 50 minutes. Crawley frontman Matt Harold put on the gloves after goalkeeper Brian Jensen dislocated a finger in a challenge with Ireland Under-21 international Samir Carruthers, with no substitute goalkeeper on the bench.
Oyebanjo helped to protect Harold in the Crawley goal, but just when it appeared that his side would hold out for an unlikely 2-1 win, MK Dons scored an equaliser deep into injury time.
At the top of the table Bristol City went three points clear of Swindon thanks to a 4-0 win against Notts County. Ireland under-21 left-back Derrick Williams slotted home his side's fourth goal for their biggest win of the season and what was his third goal of the season.
Williams is pleased his tally this season and afterwards said: "Scoring a goal is a good feeling. I only got one last season, so I set myself a target this year and it's going well so far."
Newport County moved into the League Two automatic promotion places thanks to a second-half goal from Mark Byrne that gave his side a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth. A low drive from outside the penalty area from Byrne proved to be the game's decisive moment.
John-Joe O'Toole was on the mark in Northampton's 2-0 away win against Exeter. With his side already leading 1-0, O'Toole went on a surging run before slotting the ball home.
The former Ireland under-21 player came in for praise from his manager afterwards as Chris Wilder said: "I still think there is more to come from John-Joe O'Toole. He links the play up, but he knows he has to work hard."
In Scotland, Aberdeen took advantage of Celtic's postponed game with St Johnstone to re-establish their four point lead at the top of the SPL with a 2-0 win against St Mirren.
Johnny Hayes and Adam Rooney both started for the Dons, with Hayes making the bigger impact. He laid the second goal on a plate for Shay Logan with a clever through ball and then set up what should have been a third Aberdeen goal for Rooney with a smartly taken free-kick.
Inverness CT are just a point behind Celtic in third place thanks to a 2-1 win away to Kilmarnock. Aaron Doran started for Inverness, but was taken off just after the hour mark, after an ineffective display, while Kilmarnock's Mark Connolly impressed despite his side's defeat.
Connolly helped to deny Inverness goalscorer Billy McKay a hat-trick with a last-gasp sliding block and was unlucky not to equalise with his 83rd minute header which went just over the bar.
Elsewhere Motherwell's Mark O'Brien rounded off a miserable afternoon for his side as his own-goal was the fourth his side conceded in a 4-1 defeat to Dundee.
Down Under, and with the A-League taking a mid-season break, Damien Duff's Melbourne City made the trip to Abu Dhabi for a friendly with Al Jazira, but again Duff struggled to make any impact. The former Chelsea player missed a sitter from ten-yards out early on and became a peripheral figure in the second half as his side were penned back.
And finally, Ireland international Kevin Foley has joined FC Copenhagen after having his contract cancelled at Wolverhampton Wanderers by mutual agreement.
The defender's deal at Wolves was due to expire in the summer and he leaves the Championship side after over 200 appearances in seven-a-half years. Copenhagen are managed by Ståle Solbakken, who knows Foley from a spell as Wolves boss last year.
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