Striker Jamie Reid chalked up his seventh goal of the season and his second in two games as Stevenage picked up a point in their 1-1 draw at home to Mansfield Town at the weekend.
The 30-year-old, who scored on his international debut a year ago this month, followed up his midweek winner at Cambridge United by opening the scoring against Mansfield just before the interval, however Jordan Rhodes levelled nine minutes from time for the visitors.
Also in League One midfielder Cameron McGeehan chalked up his ninth of the campaign in Northampton Town’s surprise 2-1 victory at Leyton Orient, who had Ethan Galbraith in their starting line-up.
Brodie Spencer, Callum Marshall and Dion Charles all started Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers, a result which saw the Terriers dispose of the services of former Northern Ireland international Michael Duff after the game.
Teenage defender Bayley McCann, son of former Northern Ireland international Grant McCann, was given his league debut by Barnsley when he came on as a late substitute in the Tykes' 3-0 home defeat to Blackpool.
In the Premier League Justin Devenny played the final three minutes of Crystal Palace’s 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Ipswich Town and former U21 international goalkeeper Dermot Mee was again on the subs bench for Manchester United as they held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.
In the Championship there were starts for Conor Hazard, Ciaron Brown, Shea Charles, Paul Smyth, Trai Hume and Isaac Price, who was named man of the match for his performance in 10-man West Brom’s single-goal victory at home to QPR.
Price, who has been a revelation since his move to The Hawthorns from Standard Liege in January, believes it was a huge result for Tony Mowbray’s side in their bid to secure a Championship play-off spot.
“It was a massive effort today to get three points and it shows what sort of squad we have,” he told the club website. “We knew it’d be difficult in the second half. Going down to 10 is never easy, but I thought we dug in really well.
“We’ve got some really good leaders in our team and that helps when you go down to 10. We’re buzzing with the result.”
There was disappointment in the Scottish Cup for Northern Ireland players as Dundee, who had Trevor Carson and Aaron Donnelly in their side, fell to a 3-1 quarter-final defeat to Hearts and Reece Evans was an unused substitute as Queen’s Park exited the competition following a 4-1 loss at Aberdeen.
It was also the quarter-finals stage of the Women’s Scottish Cup with Aberdeen progressing to the semi-finals thanks to a brace of goals from Toni-Leigh Finnegan and one from Kerry Beattie in their 4-1 victory at St Johnstone.
Laura Rafferty helped Rangers make it to the last four with a 2-0 success at home to Spartans though Hearts, who had Lauren Wade and Joely Andrews in their squad, suffered a 3-2 extra time defeat to Glasgow City.
In the MLS Paddy McNair suffered an injury in San Diego’s 3-1 win at Real Salt Lake which forced the former Middlesbrough defender to be replaced 10 minutes into the second half.
Finally, 17-year-old Cole Brannigan was on target for the second successive week in Aston Villa U18s' 2-0 win at Fulham and Rio Oudnie-Morgan celebrated his first call-up to the Northern Ireland U21 squad with a goal for Ipswich Town in their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in the U21 Premier League Cup.
