Trai Hume’s sweetly struck volley was enough to secure all three points for Sunderland in their Championship clash against mid-table Millwall at the weekend.
The 23-year-old, who missed Northern Ireland’s 5-1 defeat in Sweden due to a hip injury, was used as an emergency left back in the 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light and Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris heaped praise on the Ballymena-born defender after the game.
"It was a great goal and he was consistent again," said the Frenchman. "He always plays at a very impressive level. He can pick up different positions, he is very important to us. And if he scores it’s even better.
"He didn't train a lot this week, only part of the session yesterday. He’s a warrior. He’s a very strong character. He always wants to play.
"But his mindset is very strong and he shows the importance of consistency. Even with the pain and a small injury he can play and he’s well connected with the team."
Elsewhere in the Championship goalkeeper Pierce Charles, who further enhanced his reputation with solid performances against both Switzerland and Sweden last week, was handed his first league start by Sheffield Wednesday who drew 1-1 at Cardiff City.
Owls boss Danny Rohl had no hesitation in naming the 19-year-old in the starting XI and admitted to Radio Sheffield following the draw in the Welsh capital that he now has two number one goalkeepers at the club.
“We have two young, good goalkeepers. We have James Beadle who deserves a lot of credit since he arrived last year in the relegation fight. He helped us to get a lot of points.
“On the other side we have our own goalkeeper with Pierce, who has worked very hard. He is now the number one for his national team and has improved a lot - he deserved it as well."
“In every other position we have competition, it’s normal, and we have two number ones now,” he added. “They’ll challenge each other, and we’ll see how ready Pierce is.”
There was a fifth clean sheet of the season for Conor Hazard as bottom-of-the-table Plymouth Argyle drew 0-0 at play-off hopefuls Watford though Isaac Price, who took his total of Northern Ireland goals to eight during the international break, was an unused substitute in West Brom’s defeat at Norwich City.
Northern Ireland’s latest full international, Terry Devlin, played the final half-hour of Portsmouth’s single goal victory at home to Blackburn Rovers to move Pompey seven points clear of the Championship relegation places.
Midfielder Caolan Boyd-Munce doubled his goal tally for the season at the weekend after netting a brace in St Mirren’s 5-1 rout over Kilmarnock who had Liam Donnelly, Brad Lyons and Matty Kennedy all in the starting line-up.
Meanwhile in League One, Brodie Spencer and Callum Marshall both played the full 90 minutes as Huddersfield Town suffered a fifth league defeat in seven games following a 4-0 loss at Charlton Athletic.
After being injured on U21 duty with Tommy Wright’s side last week, on-loan midfielder Patrick Kelly was a surprise inclusion in Doncaster Rovers' squad which recorded a 3-0 home success against Carlisle United in League Two on Saturday.
“We didn't think PK would be right as he limped off in a Northern Ireland Under-21s game and came into us on crutches,” said Rovers boss and former international Grant McCann. “But we managed to turn him around, so we are pleased with the win.”
Finally, in the Scottish WPL, Kerry Beattie scored in Aberdeen’s 2-1 win at Partick Thistle and Gemma McGuinness scored her 11th of the season as AFC Bournemouth won 5-2 at Worthing Women in Division One South of the National League.
