Defender Ryan Johnson scored his first goal of the season at the weekend as AFC Wimbledon came from behind to beat Doncaster Rovers 2-1 at the Eco-Power Stadium.
The 28-year-old, who earned his first call-up to the Northern Ireland squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Luxembourg and Germany, set up the comeback with a 70th minute equaliser to celebrate his first goal for the League One outfit in 763 days.
“I know it’s been a while since my last goal,” he told the club website. “It’s something that I set as a personal goal for myself to try and get on the scoresheet a lot more often.
“The win’s the main thing, but obviously it’s a bonus to get the goal.”
Also on the scoresheet over the weekend was Josh Magennis, who took his tally this term to four after finding the net in Exeter City’s 2-1 reverse at Stevenage, who had Northern Ireland striker Jamie Reid spearheading their attack.
After missing the opening weeks of the season with a hamstring injury, former Linfield and Everton striker Shayne Lavery recorded his first of the season when he scored the winning goal for Cambridge United in their 2-1 home success over Fleetwood Town in League Two.
Striker Ronan Hale was on target again as Ross County remain bottom of the Scottish Championship without a win following a 2-1 defeat at home to Queen’s Park.
In the Premier League Conor Bradley played his first full 90 minutes of the season as Liverpool registered a 2-1 win in the Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield, while Justin Devenny came on as a half-time substitute as Crystal Palace extended their unbeaten run to 17 games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory at West Ham United.
After missing the recent World Cup qualifiers with a groin injury, Daniel Ballard returned to action after coming on as a first-half substitute for 10-man Sunderland who battled to a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light.
Meanwhile, in the Championship, Makenzie Kirk came off the bench to make his Portsmouth debut in a 2-0 reverse to Sheffield Wednesday at Fratton Park.
“I’m delighted to make my debut. It’s something that I’ve been really looking forward to for the past few weeks,” Kirk told the club website.
“It’s nice to be able to say that I’ve finally made my first appearance for the club, but it wasn’t the performance or result that the boys wanted.”
Elsewhere Brodie Spencer made his return from injury as he starred for Oxford United who picked up their first Championship win of the season, beating Bristol City 3-1 at Ashton Gate.
In Scotland Conor McMenamin and Liam Donnelly have a League Cup semi-final against Motherwell to look forward to after St Mirren defeated Kilmarnock 5-3 on penalties on Friday evening. It was 2-2 after extra time in the last eight encounter at Rugby Park.
West Ham United striker Callum Marshall further improved his chances of a call-up to the Hammers’ first team after scoring his third goal in two games for the U21s who had a 3-0 win over Birmingham City.
Braiden Graham (Everton), Cole Brannigan (Aston Villa) and Rio Oundie-Morgan (Ipswich Town) were also on target for their respective clubs in Premier League 2 over the weekend.
Northern Ireland players were also among the goals in the U18 Premier League with Chelsea’s Christopher Atherton netting his first for the club, as did West Ham’s Joel Kerr, while Ceadach O’Neill made it six in five games for Arsenal.
