It was a memorable weekend for teenage defender Ruairi McConville who made his first team debut for Premier League outfit Brighton and Hove Albion in their 4-0 FA Cup success at Norwich City.
The former Linfield player, who won his first two senior Northern Ireland caps in November, played the final 19 minutes as a substitute in the third round success at Carrow Road, and after the game Seagulls boss Fabian Hurzeler praised the 19-year-old’s cameo performance.
“He’s very mature for his age, he’s a great personality,” Hurzeler told the Brighton Argus. “He really deserved to be in our squad today. I'm happy that he had this chance today and used it quite impressively.
“Now it’s up to him to keep working, but I don’t worry about that because he has a great personality and it will now be interesting to see how we proceed with him."
“We try to develop young players,” added Hurzeler. “They do a great job in the academy. We have Bucky (Ian Buckman), a great academy chief.
“We have Shannon Ruth, an Under-21s coach who is unbelievable. They do a lot of great work and they develop the players quite well, and Ruairi is one of these players.”
Elsewhere in the FA Cup goalkeeper Conor Hazard helped Plymouth Argyle, who are bottom of the Championship, produce one of the shocks of the round as they knocked Premier League side Brentford out of the competition following a 1-0 win at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Former Celtic keeper Hazard can now look forward next month to a glamour home tie against Premier League leaders Liverpool who gave Conor Bradley a 30-minute runout as a substitute in their comfortable 4-0 third round victory over Accrington Stanley at Anfield.
Midfielder Justin Devenny was used as a second half substitute by Crystal Palace as they defeated League One Stockport County by a single goal at Selhurst Park and goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell started Birmingham City’s contest versus Lincoln City which they won 2-1 to set up a fourth round encounter with Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United.
Josh Magennis started Exeter City’s 3-1 win over Oxford United, a result which saw the Grecians make it to the fourth round of the competition for the first time since 1981.
Brothers Pierce and Shea Charles were both named in the starting XI for Sheffield Wednesday’s FA Cup encounter against fellow Championship outfit, and last season’s semi-finalists, Coventry City who defeated the Yorkshire side 4-3 on penalties.
Terry Devlin and Paddy Lane were part of the Portsmouth team defeated 2-0 defeat by Wycombe Wanderers and Trai Hume started for Sunderland who exited the competition following their 2-1 extra time loss to Stoke City at the Stadium of Light.
Away from the FA Cup, midfielder Ciaran McGuckin played the full 90 minutes for Yeovil Town who drew 1-1 at home to Woking in the National League.
The Northern Ireland U21 international spent a month on loan with the non-league side back in September and last week returned to Huish Park on a similar deal from Rotherham United until the end of the season.
Finally, Dylan Stitt scored a brace of goals as Luton Town U18s defeated MK Dons 5-1 at the weekend to take his tally for the season for the Hatters' youth team to 10.
