Everton turned in the performance of the weekend as they shone with a 6-2 victory over Sunderland and the Irish duo of Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy played no small part in that victory.
Coleman had been a doubt before kick-off, suffering with a stomach bug, but recovered in time to take his place in the team, and while he appeared to tire slightly late on, he was still as dynamic as ever in attack.
The Everton full-back’s pace and willingness to get involved in the attack was a feature throughout and will be crucial for Ireland’s EURO 2016 play-off hopes against Bosnia & Herzegovina.
However it was McCarthy who really caught the eye as far as Ireland supporters would be concerned.
Freed up to play a more attacking role and get forward more often that usual, McCarthy was a constant threat and pulled the strings, the midfielder’s eye for a pass was crucial to Everton’s success.
This was most evident for the Toffees' fifth goal, when an inch-perfect reverse pass played hat-trick man Arouna Kone in on goal and left him with the simple task of finishing the move off.
Sunderland skipper John O’Shea was absent for the Black Cats after picking up a hamstring injury during last week’s Tyne-Weir derby and must now be considered a doubt for Ireland’s second leg clash with Bosnia & Herzegovina. He is suspended for the first leg.
Rob Elliot, who was on the wrong end of 3-0 defeat in that Newcastle and Sunderland derby last week, looked much more assured for the Magpies on Saturday as he kept a clean sheet and helped his side to a 0-0 draw at home against Stoke.
Elliot enjoyed a quieter afternoon than his Stoke counterpart Jack Butland but was always alert when called into action and twice denied international team-mate Jon Walters when the front man looked likely to score.
The Newcastle goalkeeper did pick up a groin injury however and it remains unclear how serious that injury is.
It was a disappointing afternoon for Walters who will feel he should have scored with either a one-on-one he had with Elliot or a second-half point-blank header which was somehow scrambled away.
Glenn Whelan also featured for Stoke and while he was occasionally guilty of giving the ball away in midfield he worked hard to get it back and was always offering himself as an option when Stoke broke forward.
Norwich’s Robbie Brady had a mixed afternoon as his side were beaten 2-1 by top of the table Manchester City.
Brady claimed an unlikely assist when his cross was spilled by Joe Hart in the Manchester City goal, allowing Cameron Jerome to slide the ball home. However Brady then game away a penalty, needlessly fouling Raheem Sterling late-on.
Wes Hoolahan was an unused substitute for Norwich after featuring in their midweek Capitol One Cup penalty shoot-out defeat, again pointing to questions about his ability to play games in quick succession.
Elsewhere, James McClean had a quiet afternoon as his West Brom side were beaten 3-2 by Leicester. McClean struggled to make much of an attacking impact but showed plenty of restraint in ignoring the abuse of the Leicester supporters who barracked him throughout.
Harry Arter made his first start of the season for Bournemouth in their derby clash with Southampton but while he was probably his side’s best performer in midfield, he was unable to prevent his side suffering a 2-0 defeat.
Arter, who also featured in his side’s midweek Capitol One Cup defeat to Liverpool was full of endeavour and good touches but faded as the game went on and still appears to be lacking that extra bit of match sharpness.
In the Championship, Shane Duffy turned in a fine performance for Blackburn, helping them to another clean sheet in their 2-0 victory away to Leeds.
Duffy has formed a decent partnership with Grant Hanley in recent times and his performance against Leeds could see him enter Martin O’Neill’s thoughts ahead of Ireland’s double header with Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Blackburn have avoided conceding in five of their last 10 games and against Leeds, Duffy showed some great positional awareness and judgement in the tackle, hinting at a maturity and progression in his game that hasn’t always been there.
The defender is hoping to force his way into the Ireland squad and said: “It’s always nice to play for your country. I’m just focusing on Blackburn really, it’s all I can do, and if he likes me he likes me.
“I can’t really think about it too much but if I get the call I would be delighted, but it’s a long way away and I’ve got some big games with Blackburn in the next few weeks so I’m looking forward to them.”
John O’Sullivan continues to be blooded by Blackburn and again came on as a late substitute in their victory.
On Friday, Alan McCormack was his usual combative self in Brentford’s 1-0 victory over QPR. The hard-tackling midfielder helped his side dominate the centre of the park with his non-stop running as he physically imposed himself on the Rangers midfield.
At times QPR appeared to be intimidated by McCormack, who picked up a yellow card and went off to a standing ovation when he was replaced with 10 minutes to go.
There was bad news for Alan Judge however, who has been in fine form for the Bees, but limped off with a hamstring injury with 15 minutes to go.
There was plenty of Irish involvement in Derby County’s 3-0 victory over Rotherham as Richard Keogh, Cyrus Christie and Jeff Hendrick all featured but it was Keogh who caught the eye from the Rams.
Solid in defence throughout, Keogh also got his name on the scoresheet with his first goal in nearly two years as he blasted home from close range to claim the game’s third goal.
Afterwards Keogh revealed his joy at ending his goal drought and said: “It’s been a long time coming. It was a great feeling. We’re a very confident group and we’re growing all the time. There’s more to come from us and I think it’s exciting.”
Things are much less rosey at Ipswich where Mick McCarthy’s men extended their unwanted goalless streak to seven games as they drew 0-0 at home to Cardiff City.
Daryl Murphy, who was the top scorer in the Championship last season with 27 goals, has yet to score this season and saw his first-half header pushed onto the crossbar when he looked certain to score.
McCarthy admitted that Muprhy’s goal drought is a major concern and said: “It doesn’t matter what job you’re doing, if it’s just not happening for you then your confidence will hardly be flowing. He needs to find one from somewhere.
“He had a couple on his right foot when he checked back and they defended it well. On a different day, when he was scoring 27 goals, he’d have probably swung his right foot and it would have ended up in the net.”
In League One, former Shamrock Rovers frontman Dave Mooney was on the mark in Southend’s 2-2 draw with Rochdale as he opened the scoring from the penalty spot.
Paddy Madden’s fine form for Scunthorpe continued as he impressed in their 2-0 victory over Barnsley despite not being on the scoresheet.
Madden forced a great save out of goalkeeper Nick Townsend early on and after that his power and pace caused no end of problems for the Tykes and he dragged their defenders all over the pitch.
In Scotland, Graham Cummins bagged a brace which proved to be vital as his St Johnstone side won 4-2 away to Hamilton Academical.
Cummins opened his account for the afternoon with a smartly placed header before he was fastest to react to a rebound in the Hamilton penalty area before smashing the ball home from a tight angle.
Adam Rooney was on the scoresheet for Aberdeen but it was little more than a consolation goal as their recent terrible form continued with a 3-1 defeat away to Celtic.
The Dons have taken just one point from their last five league games and slipped out of the title races but Rooney at last found the net as he took advantage of some sloppy defending to fire home with just over a minute to go.
In the MLS Robbie Keane’s LA Galaxy were dumped out of the MLS play-offs with a 3-2 defeat to Seattle Sounders. His manager Bruce Arena also ruled out a potential Premier League loan move for the striker during the MLS close season.
Further afield, Darren O’Dea’s Mumbai City saw their recent good run of form brought to a crashing end with a 4-1 defeat to Atletico de Kolkata in the Indian Super League.
O’Dea had helped Mumbai to back-to-back wins and two clean sheets in his side’s previous games but they came unstuck against defending champions Kolkata. The Irish defender struggled with the pace of the game but did offer a threat with his dead ball deliveries.
And in Australia, Roy O’Donovan was on the mark for Central Coast Mariners but was unable to prevent his side go down 3-1 to Sydney FC.
O’Donovan equalised for his side after they went behind to an early goal and was then left fuming after he was denied what appeared to be a certain penalty when goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic brought him down.
