The Irish Post’s weekly look at how Irish players got on in the English soccer leagues:
Barclays Premier League
Seamus Coleman had a role in two of the goals in Saturday’s 6-3 home defeat to Chelsea. Kevin Mirallas’ scored a second-half header off a similar ball from the Irish defender, before a strike from Chelsea’s Eden Hazard deflected off Coleman and passed Toffees’ goalkeeper Tim Howard.
West Ham midfielder Mark Noble was the focus of speculation last week, when it was suggested that the 27-year-old could declare for Ireland through his Cork-born grandparents after he was snubbed by Roy Hodgson for a place in the England squad. The midfielder responded to reports with a long-range shot against Southampton in the 27th minute at Upton Park. The visitors followed with a hat-trick of goals to give the Saints their first Premier League win under Ronald Koeman.
Speaking to Goals on Sunday, Noble explained his disappointment at being rejected by England and that he will consider his future with Ireland over the coming weeks.
“My nan and grandad are full Irish. I’ve captained the England Under-21s but I’m still young. I tried to concentrate on the game yesterday and I was disappointed not to be called up for England," he said.
"I’d find it strange to pull on the green jersey because I’ve captained the England under-21s but you never know, football is a strange game, and I’ll make a decision over the next couple of weeks."
18-year-old Jack Grealish came on for Aston Villa in their 2-1 victory over Hull City. The 75th minute substitute played his role in the hosts’ unbeaten run in the Premier League so far this season. Stephen Quinn picked up a yellow card for the Tigers with four minutes of the game remaining for a bad foul.
Championship
Ireland international Jeff Hendrick suffered a dislocated shoulder in Derby’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich, minutes after the home side had a penalty appeal turned down when Hendrick appeared to be caught by Berra.
Simon Cox put Reading in front after just seven minutes at Middlesbrough, after connecting a Ryan Edwards pass and lobbing the ball passed keeper Tomas Mejias.
Reading manager Nigel Adkins: "We had 16 players unavailable going into the game so it's a great result. It was a super goal from Simon Cox. That gave us something to hold on to and [Adam] Federici has not really had many saves to make.
"The young side we have got have come away from home against an excellent side and got a great result. We had seven academy players on the field to finish off."
Sky Bet League One
Chesterfield’s Eoin Doyle kneed in a rebound shot within the first ten minutes, in the visitors 2-1 win against Port Vale.
Northern Ireland international Josh McQuoid took Coventry into the lead with their first shot of the game just before half-time, but Swindon levelled the scores in the second-half to end the game 1-1.
