By Rob Wright | Updated: Wednesday, 08 Apr 2015 10:47 | Comments
It was another weekend to forget for Hull City as they slipped closer towards a relegation battle, losing 3-1 away to Swansea in a game in which David Meyler was sent off.
With the Tigers trailing 2-1, Meyler was perhaps unlucky to be shown a straight red card for his challenge on Kyle Naughton. In what initially appeared to be a 50-50 challenge, Meyler's raised foot caught Naughton's standing leg leaving the referee with little choice.
Naughton has now been ruled out for the rest of the season with ankle ligament damage, while Meyler left the field just as his side appeared to be mounting a comeback and will miss now Hull's next three games.
It was a goal from Paul McShane that briefly gave Hull hope that they could salvage something from the game. Trailing 2-0 at the break, McShane did little wrong in the opening half and combined with international team-mate Robbie Brady to head his side back into the game five minutes after the restart as he nodded home from the Irish midfielder's cross.
Brady was Hull's most potent attacking threat on the day as his crossing and delivery from dead balls gave the Tigers their biggest opportunities. Underutilised slightly in the first half as he was starved of possession, as soon as Hull could get Brady on the ball they looked a better team.
At Crystal Palace, Damien Delaney's stock continues to rise as the Eagles' skipper turned in a stirring display in the heart of defence to help his side overcome league champions Manchester City, winning 2-1 at Selhurst Park.
There may be questions over Delaney's Irish future with Martin O'Neill suggesting that the player has taken a step back from international football to concentrate on his club game but the 33-year-old has undergone a renaissance under Alan Pardew at Palace and is one of the form defenders in the Premier League.
Against City he was outstanding, bossing Edin Dzeko as he came out on top in their personal duel and was a huge part of Palace's defensive solidity as they claimed a surprise win. Indeed Delaney was a threat at the other end, forcing a fine save from Joe Hart as he went close, connecting with corner-kick.
Stoke City's Irish contingent all turned in battling displays against Chelsea but were on the end of a 2-1 scoreline as the Blues continued their seemingly unstoppable march to the title.
Marc Wilson, Stephen Ireland, Glenn Whelan and Jonathan Walters all started for Stoke but by varying degrees all four struggled to make a major impact on the game.
Wilson was perhaps the most impressive of the Irish performers.
He got off to a shaky start as his deflection from a Loic Remy shot in the third minute almost gave Chelsea an early lead, but he was solid and dependable after that, helping to keep the impact of both Willian and Juan Cuadrado to a minimum out wide.
Ireland and Whelan were often left chasing shadows in midfield, Whelan perhaps more successfully as he showed a typically willingness to chase down every ball. It was a similar story for Walters who, despite all his effort and harrying, got little change from the Chelsea defence.
Everton's Darron Gibson was missing from his side's 1-0 victory over Southampton after suffering a broken metatarsal, which looks likely to rule him out for the rest of the season.
In his absence James McCarthy and Seamus Coleman were both impressive against as they helped their side to a win that all but put an end to the Saints' Champions League hopes.
McCarthy, who has come in for plenty of criticism of late, was busy throughout and his use of the ball excellent at times as his passing became the platform on which the Toffees mounted many of their forays forward.
The midfielder was unlucky not to have opened the scoring early on as a superb block from Ryan Bertrand denied him when he looked set to score.
Coleman was his usual effective self although early on, a toothless Southampton attack gave him even more of an opportunity than usual to get forward.
Playing like an out and out winger at times, the former Sligo Rovers man did have most defensive duties to attend to once as the game wore on and Sadio Mane was introduced, he still coped with his threat ably.
For Southampton it was an afternoon of much endeavour but little end product for Shane Long. The striker was pushed out to the right, but had little service throughout, although he did appear to have the measure of Leighton Baines when provided with the ball.
Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark was on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline as his side were undone by Manchester United but despite a slow start, it was a decent display from the Ireland international.
Clark could and perhaps should have been penalised for dragging down Wayne Rooney in the penalty area early on but he recovered from that mistake and after seemingly being tasked with man-marking Rooney, managed to restrict him to very few chances until the closing stages of the game.
In the Championship, Wes Hoolahan was once again the star of the show for Norwich as they claimed an impressive 2-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday to move into the automatic promotion places.
Hoolahan's form has been one of the big driving forces behind the Canaries promotion push and he continued that against Wednesday. The Irish midfielder's surging run led to the corner from which Norwich scored their opening goal and the playmaker was a constant threat throughout and his incisive passing and use of the ball caused the Owls no end of problems.
There was little that Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood could do for the opener, a powerful header from Bradley Johnson, and he just as powerless to stop the second – a powerful shot from Bradley from close range.
Westwood's Birmingham counterpart Darren Randolph suffered even more, conceding four as his side went down 4-2 to league leaders Bournemouth for who Harry Arter was hugely influential in midfield.
Birmingham caught Bournemouth cold and raced into a surprise 2-0 lead early on but the Cherries soon burst into life and just after Arter went close to pulling one back, Steve Cook bundled the ball home following a goalmouth scramble.
Callum Wilson then rounded Randolph in the Blues goal to equalise before Bournemouth took the lead from the penalty spot and Randolph was lobbed for the fourth. Arter still had time to rattle the crossbar as his side claimed a convincing win.
Mick McCarthy's Ipswich suffered a big blow to their play-off hopes as they were beaten by Huddersfield who claimed their first win in eight games with a 2-1 victory.
Luke Chambers, Daryl Murphy and Jay Tabb all lined out for Ipswich but it was Huddersfield's Sean Scannell who made the biggest impact, rediscovering some of his early season form after going through a bit of a lull in recent times.
Scannell dominated down the right wing, giving fullback Zeki Fryers no peace at all and his surging runs and crossing unsettled Ipswich.
The former Ireland Under-21 should have had a penalty on 20 minutes when Fryers appeared to haul him down in the penalty and was unlucky not to have claimed an assist just before the hour mark when a fine through ball set Nahki Wells through on goal.
Tabb was lively throughout for the Tractor Boys and it was his cross that led to Ipswich's goal but defender Christopher Berra denied him an equaliser soon after, knocking his effort behind.
Richard Keogh and Jeff Hendrick helped their Derby County side to a 2-0 victory away to James McClean's Wigan, a result that cemented County in the play-off positions and pushed Wigan ever closer to relegation and saw manager Malky Mackay sacked.
Unlike some of his team-mates, McClean at least looked as if he cared and battled throughout but was twice denied be Lee Grant in the Derby goal. The first time Grant smothered the ball brilliantly as McClean looked be through on goal before he produced an acrobatic one-handed save to tip the Irish international's header behind.
Keogh meanwhile was reliable and solid at the back in a game in which he wasn't overly tested while Hendrick helped to keep things ticking over in the midfield and always seemed to be in an extra yard of space when the ball made its way to him.
Paul Green was recalled to the Rotherham first team for their 1-0 victory over Brighton, a result which moves the Millers further clear of the relegation zone.
Green operated well on the right side of midfield but will be disappointed not to have scored just before the 30 minute mark when he somehow contriving to blast wide from close range with the goal at his mercy.
Leon Best was a second-half substitute for Brighton and helped to make his side look much more threatening from an attacking point of view. Indeed a delightful cross from Best led to one of his side's best chances of the second as Jordan Bowery just about avoided turning it into his own net.
Charles Dunne and Darren O'Dea were both in the Blackpool side that were denied their first away win of the season by an injury-time goal from Eidur Gudjohnsen that gave Bolton a 1-1 draw.
Blackpool were relegated without kicking a ball on Monday as Rotherham's 1-0 win over Brighton ensured that there's no mathematical chance of their survival but they at least showed some fight against Bolton.
In League One Barnsley's play-off hopes suffered a serious blow as they went down 3-1 to relegation strugglers Colchester.
Barnsley dominated the first have with Conor Hourihane enjoying all kinds of freedom as he played in between midfield and the front line without ever being picked up. He had the first chance of the game when his effort from the edge of the box was blocked on eight minutes and then his cutback looked certain to lead to first goal only for it to miss all Barnsley players.
Hourihane did eventually help put his side in front when his cross caused all kinds of problems in the penalty area before George Waring knocked it home. However after that goal the Reds suffered a second-half collapse and three unanswered goals put a huge dent in Barnsley's promotion hopes.
Adam Barton was the closest the breaking the deadlock as his Coventry City side were held 0-0 away to Notts County for a result that sees the Sky Blues remain a point outside the relegation zone.
Barton forced a brilliant save from Northern Ireland goalkeeper Roy Carroll in the final minute of injury time as well as hitting another effort straight at Carroll in what were the best chances in an often tepid encounter.
Afterwards Barton was left to rue his missed chance, saying: "The lads said it was a good save but in my mind I should have scored and we should have won the game. I tried to direct it back towards the back post and got what I could on it, enough power on it but Roy Carroll is a good keeper and made the save."
Bradford's play-off hopes suffered a battering as they went down 3-0 away to Preston North End, just three days after a 3-0 win over Doncaster saw them move to within three points of the play-off places.
Billy Clarke was on the mark in that win over Doncaster but against Preston they were down to ten men after 14 minutes when Christopher Routis was shown red. Mark Yeates was introduced with 25 minutes to go but by then the damage was done and his side were trailing 3-0, a scoreline they could not make an impression upon.
Dave Mooney's Leyton Orient drew 3-3 with a Gillingham featured John Egan in defence, but it was an afternoon when the former Longford Town striker failed to shine. Mooney, who has been a leading light for the struggling Os never really got into the game or created anything of note so it was no surprise when he was replaced on 55 minutes.
Former Sligo Rovers manager Paul Cook saw his Chesterfield side take another step towards the play-offs as they edged to a 1-0 win against Crewe. Jimmy Ryan and Jay O'Shea, who scored the twice in Friday's 3-2 win over Yeovil, both started but it was again O'Shea who shone.
The Dubliner was one of the main driving forces behind Chesterfield's attacking play and was desperately unlucky not to have scored as his curling shot from just inside the penalty area clipped the far post before bouncing away to safety. Nevertheless a first-half goal from Tendayi Darikwa was enough for victory.
In League Two, former Sligo Rovers player Seamus Conneely scored his first goal for Accrington Stanley as they overcame Carlisle 3-1.
With his side already leading 2-0, Conneely had only been on the pitch for five minutes before he poked the ball home as he pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area.
Burton Albion took a big step towards promotion as they overcome fellow hopefuls Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 at Pirelli Stadium. Damien McCrory, who has been in fine form of late at left-back for Burton was moved up field to the left wing in an experiment which wasn't altogether successful as manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink replaced him at the break.
Former Shamrock Rovers frontman Padraig Amond came off the bench to spark a comeback for Morecambe as they came from behind to beat Bury 2-1.
With his side trailing 1-0 with 15 minutes to go, Amond was introduced in an effort to salvage something from the game and just four minutes later he equalised after he chased down a through ball before finishing smartly past goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Southend's promotion push shows no signs of slowing down as they edged to an important 1-0 win against Hartlepool. Cian Bolger, Barry Corr and Michael Timlin all started for Phil Brown's men but it was Corr who made the biggest impression going within inches of giving his side the lead after just three minutes and forcing several fine saves out of goalkeeper Scott Flinders.
Meanwhile Liam Lawrence and James Collins both started for Shrewsbury as they claimed a 1-0 win away to Mansfield, a result which guarantees them a minimum of a play-off place.
In Scotland Aberdeen's title hopes all but died as they were unable to find a way past Partick Thistle and were held to a scoreless draw which leaves the Bhoys seven points clear at the top with a game in hand.
Adam Rooney's goals have been the driving forced behind the Dons' title challenge but against Partick he drew a blank as he was well marshalled by the visitor's defence and saw his chances severely limited. His best opportunity to add to his 25 goals this season came last with 15 minutes to go when he headed wide from a corner kick.
Anthony Stokes, who was included in Martin O'Neill's last squad ahead of Rooney likewise drew a blank as his Celtic side beat St Mirren 2-0.
Further afield and Andy Keogh has rediscovered his scoring touch for Perth Glory as he headed home their opening goal in a 2-0 victory away to Newcastle Jets.
Keogh, who's recent goal scoring drought coincided with a downturn in results for Perth was very much back to his best and a constant thorn in the side of the Newcastle defenders, despite his side being second best for long periods. The result moves Perth level on points with league leaders Melbourne victory.
In the MLS Robbie Keane's LA Galaxy continued their poor start to the season as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Andy O'Brien's former team Vancouver Whitecaps. The reigning champions are enduring a difficult start to the news season and Keane admitted that his side were "played off the park" by Vancouver.
"They just played better than us; they were the better team all around. They kept the ball, they counter attacked very, very well and at the end of the night they scored two goals," Keane told LAGalaxy.com. "You just have to hold your hands up and accept we weren't good enough tonight and they were the better team."
Sean St Ledger was an unused substitute in Orlando City's 1-0 defeat at home to DC United but it was his personal life under the spotlight as he played his cards close to his chest when asked by RTÉ's Tony O'Donoghue about his links to pop star Taylor Swift.
In Malaysia Eamon Zayed was on the mark as Sabah FA were beaten 4-3 by T-Team while Billy Mehmet's Sarawak went down 1-0 to PDRM FA.
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