LAST UPDATE | 1 Jan
IRISH TRIO JASON Knight, Jimmy Dunne and Alex Gilbert were all on target in the Championship today, as Bristol City drew and QPR and Middlesborough won.
Plymouth rescued a 2-2 draw against west country rivals Bristol in their first game since Wayne Rooney’s departure as Julio Pleguezuelo scored a stoppage-time equaliser.
The Spanish defender acrobatically fired home after Adam Randell’s free-kick dropped off Zak Vyner into the six-yard box.
City twice led, through Anis Mehmeti and Knight, before being pegged back by Rami Al Hajj, with his first goal for the greens, and then Pleguezuelo.
First-team coach Kevin Nancekivell replaced Rooney – who left the club by mutual consent on New Year’s Eve – on the touchline as Argyle kicked off 2025 managerless and in incessant rain at Home Park.
Michael Obafemi was a second-half substitute for Plymouth, while goalkeeper Max O’Leary and defender Luke McNally played the full game for Bristol alongside goalscoring Knight.
Cool, calm and collected from Jason Knight! @BristolCity 😎#EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/cLw8s3y2wr
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) January 1, 2025
Meanwhile, QPR continued their march up the Championship table under Marti Cifuentes as Michael Frey announced his return to the side after injury with a goal in a 3-1 win over Watford at Loftus Road.
The former Schalke and Fenerbahce forward had been out since mid-October with a calf injury but made an emphatic comeback on his first start in more than two months with a goal to give his side the lead after only five minutes.
After a poor start to the season QPR have now lost just one of their last 10 to pull comfortably clear of the relegation places, and they increased their lead against play-off chasing Watford when Dunne took advantage of non-existent marking to head a second before half-time:
Jimmy Dunne doubles QPR's lead! pic.twitter.com/3ha1s1RSI6
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 1, 2025
Kwadwo Baah struck to briefly restore the visitors’ prospects early in the second half, but less than 60 seconds later Cifuentes’ side picked them off again, Sam Field nodding in Paul Smyth’s cross to seal a deserved victory in west London.
Festy Ebosele and Rocco Vata both came off the bench for Watford in the 65th minute, while Dunne played the full game for the Rs.
Later, Gilbert was the super sub as his stoppage-time strike lifted Middlesbrough to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over struggling Hull at the MKM Stadium.
It looked set to be a frustrating New Year’s Day for Boro as Ivor Pandur made a string of saves and on the one occasion the Hull goalkeeper was beaten, Hayden Hackney’s effort thudded off the woodwork.
But just as the visitors appeared on course for a fourth consecutive draw, Gilbert struck in the third minute of four added on to lift Michael Carrick’s side up to fifth in the Championship.
Gilbert had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes but he turned in fellow substitute Delano Burgzorg’s low cross for his first league goal of the season as Hull returned to the relegation zone:
"Middlesbrough have DONE IT!"
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 1, 2025
Absolute scenes in the away end as Alex Gilbert scores a winner in the 93rd minute! 😱 pic.twitter.com/BjUKMC0RmE
Several Irish players featured elsewhere, including Callum Robinson who was red-carded for Cardiff.
Frank Lampard’s Coventry made it three games without defeat as they battled back from a goal down to take a point from a 1-1 draw at 10-man City.
Having fallen behind to a sixth-minute goal from Alex Robertson, the visitors scored inside a minute of the re-start in the second half through Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and then had the added bonus of playing with an extra man from the 47th minute when Robinson was sent off.
The Cardiff striker backed into Bobby Thomas and caught him across the face with his left arm. Replacement referee Durkin went straight to his pocket to pull out his red card.
English Championship results:
- Burnley 0-0 Stoke
- Cardiff 1-1 Coventry
- Luton 0-1 Norwich
- Millwall 0-1 Oxford
- Plymouth 2-2 Bristol City
- Portsmouth 4-0 Swansea
- QPR 3-1 Watford
- Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 Derby
- West Brom 3-1 Preston
- Hull 0-1 Middlesbrough.
Jimmy Dunne has been in outstanding form the last couple of months. If Ireland play with a back five must surely be a strong contender alongside Nathan Collins and Darren O’Dea. Scales not getting same game time as at start of the season and as playing in Scotland it can be hard to judge how good a defensive player someone actually is when paying in such a dominant side.