IT’S BEEN A difficult start to life at Villa Park for Conor Hourihane but tonight’s 2-0 win against Bristol City saw the Corkonian score his first goal for the club.
Hourihane arrived from Barnsley during the January transfer window but Villa were just beginning a woeful run of form, which saw them fail to win for 10 successive Championship games.
However, that streak was halted with a surprise 1-0 win against Derby County last weekend and Steve Bruce’s side followed that up with another victory tonight.
Hourihane, who missed Saturday’s victory through injury, came off the bench this evening for Gary Gardner after just 38 minutes with the teams still deadlocked at 0-0.
Jonathan Kodija then opened the scoring on 54 minutes, against his former club, before Hourihane doubled Villa’s advantage from close range just five minutes later, and helped Bruce’s charges to another crucial victory that eases their relegation fears.
The win sees Villa move into 15th position on the table on 42 points, nine points clear of the relegation zone.
Elsewhere, Blackburn Rovers earned a vital victory in their survival push under new boss Tony Mowbray, a Craig Conway penalty on 58 minutes proving the difference against Derby County at Ewood Park.
Irish defenders Derrick Williams and Darragh Lenihan played the full 90 minutes for Rovers while Cyrus Christie and Alex Pearce did likewise for the Rams.
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