Northern Ireland striker Dale Taylor was on target twice as League One Burton Albion eased their relegation worries with a crucial 3-1 victory at Port Vale at the weekend.
The 19-year-old, who is currently on loan at the Brewers from Nottingham Forest until the end of the campaign, who is now on international duty with Michael O’Neill’s squad, is in fine form having found the net three times in his last three games for Dino Maamria’s side.
Taylor’s Forest team-mate Aaron Donnelly, who is loan at Port Vale, provided the assist for the home team’s only goal of the afternoon.
Also on the scoresheet over the weekend was midfielder Cameron McGeehan who took his tally for the season to four when he scored a consolation goal for Belgium outfit KV Oostende in their 2-1 home defeat to Westerlo.
In the EFL Championship, Daniel Ballard and Trai Hume both started Sunderland’s 1-1 draw at home to Luton Town while George Saville played the full 90 minutes of Millwall’s 1-0 home defeat to Huddersfield Town.
Watford skipper Craig Cathcart also played the full game for Watford who were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Wigan Athletic who brought on Josh Magennis as a late second-half substitute.
Both Paddy McNair and Jordan Thompson were unused substitutes for their respective clubs, while Shane Ferguson and Conor Washington saw Rotherham United’s game with Cardiff City abandoned just two minutes into the second half due to heavy rain.
Meanwhile in League One, Eoin Toal, Conor Bradley and Dion Charles all played in Bolton Wanderers’ 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday and former Dungannon Swifts midfielder Oisin Smyth made his first league start for Oxford United who picked up a point following their draw at Morecambe.
Twenty-two-year-old Smyth is normally used as a defensive midfielder but on Saturday he was deployed in a more attacking role by new Oxford boss Liam Manning, which he admitted did not phase him.
“I’ve played there before,” Smyth said. “The gaffer was obviously watching me in training and thought I could do a job for him.”
In Scotland, Sean Goss featured in the second half of Motherwell’s 4-2 defeat at home to Rangers and midfielder Caolan Boyd-Munce came off the bench to make his debut for St Mirren who picked up a point at Dundee United.
In the quarter-finals of the Women’s FA Cup, Reading, who had Jackie Burns and Lauren Wade in their squad, were beaten 3-1 at home by WSL leaders Chelsea and Emily Mason’s Lewes side were also defeated by the same scoreline as Manchester United progressed to the last four of the competition.
