Striker Josh Magennis scored his fifth goal of the season as Exeter City progressed to the third round of the FA Cup at the weekend.
The 34-year-old netted in Exeter's 2-0 victory over League Two outfit Chesterfield at St James' Park.
Magennis, who scored a hat-trick against Barnet in the previous round, sealed the win with a simple tap-in in the 69th minute as the Grecians made it to round three of the competition for only the fourth time in the last 20 years.
Elsewhere in the competition Bailey Peacock-Farrell started for Birmingham City for the first time since the end of October as the Blues beat fellow League One side Blackpool at Bloomfield Road.
Loanee defender Michael Forbes was outstanding for Bristol Rovers who disposed of Barnsley after a 4-3 penalty shootout win, while his West Ham United team-mate, Patrick Kelly, who is on loan at Doncaster Rovers, helped Grant McCann’s side to a nervy 2-1 extra time victory at non-league Kettering Town.
In the Premier League Justin Devenny, fresh from netting his first Premier League goal the previous weekend, played the final 25 minutes for Crystal Palace after coming off the bench at Selhurst Park in the 1-1 draw against Newcastle United, while Ruairi McConville was again an unused substitute as Brighton and Hove Albion drew 1-1 at home to Southampton.
Unfortunately Liverpool defender Conor Bradley was absent from Arne Slot’s side for the game against Manchester City due to a hamstring injury which is expected to keep him sidelined until January, and Jamal Lewis’ ongoing ankle issue caused him to miss Sao Paulo’s defeat at Gremio.
Long-term absentees Conor Hazard (ankle), Eoin Toal (hamstring) and Paddy McNair (hamstring) are all expected to be out of action until early next year.
In the Championship in England Trai Hume, Daniel Ballard, Ciaran Brown, George Saville, Paul Smyth, Ali McCann and Shea Charles all started for their respective clubs and Terry Devlin continues to impress after yet another confident performance for Portsmouth in their 2-2 draw at Swansea City.
In Scotland's top flight it was a milestone day for former Coleraine midfielder Brad Lyons who made his 100th appearance for Kilmarnock who were held to a draw on Saturday by Dundee.
Nottingham Forest’s Aaron Donnelly, who is on a season-long loan at Colchester United, admitted he was proud of his team’s performance after picking up a point in their League Two clash at Fleetwood Town on Saturday.
“Today was a really dominant performance from us,” he told BBC Essex Sport. “Fleetwood are a very good team who have very high hopes this season and I think we came out and showed that we can compete against good opposition.
“I think there was a lot of determination out there today to keep a clean sheet. I think that’s a second clean sheet in four games away from home and, more importantly, we are now five unbeaten on the bounce.”
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Braiden Graham continued his remarkable scoring run when he found the net in Everton Under-18s' 3-2 victory over fierce rivals Liverpool. It took his tally since joining the club in the summer to nine goals in just 10 outings.
Another former Linfield player, Aodhan Doherty, was also on target at the weekend when he scored for Blackburn Rovers' U21 team against West Brom, while senior international striker Conor Washington scored for Derby County’s U21 side in a 6-2 defeat to Chelsea before going off injured midway through the second half.
Finally, there were assists for Shayne Lavery (Cambridge United), Kyle Vassell (Kilmarnock), Lee Bonis (ADO Den Haag) and former Cliftonville striker Ben Wilson (Airdrie).
