Striker Liam Boyce chalked up his 17th goal of the season when he slotted home a last minute penalty to earn Ross County a point in their 2-2 draw at home to Scottish Premiership champions Celtic yesterday.
The former Cliftonville player, who has now scored 48 goals in 111 appearances for the Staggies, felt a draw was a fair result against Brendan Rodgers outfit.
Boyce said: “We were happy with the way we were defending and we played well enough in the second half to deserve a point from the game.
“We defended well in the first half but there are some goals we can’t stop and it was a good shot from the edge of the box.
“The manager said at half-time our shape was good,” he added, “We just needed a bit more belief on the ball and he asked us to show we can play.
“We got something going and we were pressing better and we managed to get our reward.”
Also on the scoresheet over the Easter weekend was Notts County skipper Michael O’Connor whose second goal of the campaign helped his side to a 2-2 draw at Crewe in League Two.
The only other Northern Ireland player to find the net in a packed festive fixture list was former under-21 international Matt McClure who opened the scoring after just three minutes of Aldershot’s draw at Tranmere in the National League with his eighth of the season.
Meanwhile, in the Championship Ollie Norwood’s dream of playing Premier League football next season edged ever closer as the Seagulls moved four points clear of Newcastle United at the top of the table with a 2-0 victory at Wolves.
Victory for Brighton at home to Wigan Athletic this afternoon will seal automatic promotion and a return to top flight football for the first time in 34 years.
Elsewhere, defender Danny Lafferty and Caolan Lavery picked up League One winners’ medals after Sheffield United were confirmed as Champions on Saturday evening after Ryan McLaughlin’s Oldham Athletic side further eased their relegation worries with a narrow 1-0 success at home to second-placed Bolton Wanderers.
Finally, on the injury front, Craig Cathcart missed Watford’s 1-0 win at home to Swansea City on Saturday with a knee complaint while Niall McGinn was sidelined for Aberdeen’s victory at St Johnstone with a groin strain and is now struggling to be fit for this coming weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final with Hibernian.
