Northern Ireland defender Eoin Toal netted for Bolton Wanderers at the weekend to keep his team firmly in the EFL League One play-offs picture.
And he scored past a familiar face in international team-mate Bailey Peacock-Farrell as the Trotters drew 2-2 with Blackpool.
It was Bolton’s third consecutive draw. They are sitting third in League One, although Cardiff City and Lincoln appear to be in the driving seat when it comes to automatic promotion to the Championship. Cardiff are 11 points ahead of Bolton, while there’s a 10-point gap between Lincoln and Bolton.
But Wanderers boss Steven Schumacher is urging his players to keep going.
He said after the game: “We can't watch the table… I think we've just got to focus on us, keep trying to win as often as we can, try not to drop points and keep going, keep believing in what we're doing.”
Club captain Toal scored the opener against Blackpool with a powerful header in the 66th minute. It was his second goal of the season. Blackpool then scored twice before Mason Burstow equalised for the home side late on.
Elsewhere in League One Jamie Reid took his tally for the campaign to 10 as he scored a consolation goal for Stevenage in their 3-1 defeat at Wycombe Wanderers.
Northern Ireland defender Kofi Balmer scored another superb goal at the weekend as Bristol Rovers eased their League Two relegation worries with a 3-1 home victory over Grimsby Town.
Balmer, who is on loan at the Pirates from Motherwell, followed up his stunning strike against Port Vale a fortnight ago by volleying home from 20 yards to give the hosts the lead with just two minutes on the clock.
“It’s becoming a bit of a habit now,” joked the former Larne defender. “It was similar to the last one, the ball’s gone over my head, I held back, hit it with my right foot this time, and I just struck it nicely, and it found the back of the net.”
After the game Rovers boss Steve Evans was full of praise for the 25-year-old: “People said Kofi Balmer could only do it once, but Kofi is a very talented boy, and when he does things quickly without overthinking them, he’s an even better player.”
In the Premier League Trai Hume and Daniel Ballard both played the full 90 minutes in Sunderland’s 3-1 home reverse to Fulham, while Justin Devenny and Kieran Morrison were both unused substitutes for Crystal Palace and Liverpool respectively.
Meanwhile, in the Championship, Paddy McNair had the misfortune to score an own goal as Hull City’s automatic promotion hopes were dented following a 3-1 home defeat to QPR.
Brodie Spencer missed Oxford United’s very creditable scoreless draw at high-flying Middlesbrough after being injured in the pre-match warm-up. Ciaron Brown and Jamie McDonnell both started for the U’s, while Jamie Donley appeared from the subs bench in the second half.
Eighteen-year-old midfielder Callum Burnside opened the scoring for Alloa Athletic in their 3-0 win over Hamilton Academical on Saturday. It was his second goal for the Scottish League One club since arriving at the Indodrill Stadium on loan from Rangers.
It was a disappointing day for U19 international keeper Ben Metcalf when his debut for Northern Premier League side Ashington AFC, whom he joined on loan last week from Sunderland, ended in an 8-0 home defeat to runaway leaders Redcar Athletic.
In the Women’s FA Cup Rebecca Holloway and Rebecca McKenna helped Birmingham City progress to the last eight of the competition after a comprehensive 8-0 victory over Chatham Town.
Striker Leyla McFarland, who has been called up to the Northern Ireland squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland and Turkiye next month, scored her first goal for Durham at the weekend in their 3-2 WSL 2 contest against Sunderland, who had Caragh Hamilton making her debut for them after her loan move from Nottingham Forest.
In an extraordinary game in the U21 Development League Devlan Moses scored a hat-trick for Sheffield Wednesday who were beaten 8-6 at home by Huddersfield Town.
Before his call-up to the Liverpool first team squad for the game against Nottingham Forest, Kieran Morrison scored twice and recorded an assist in the Reds’ 3-0 win over Forest in the U21 Premier League.
Finally, Evan Boulter scored for Nottingham Forest’s U18s who beat Sunderland 4-0 and Sidney Eldred was on target for Ipswich Town in their 2-1 success against West Ham in the U18 Premier League.
