Two West Ham United loanees were in FA Cup fourth round action for their respective clubs this weekend, while another appeared in League One.
Winger Nathan Holland was a second-half substitute for Oxford United as they claimed an excellent 0-0 draw at Newcastle United’s St James Park.
Despite starting the day 37 places below their Premier League opponents on the Football League ladder, League One promotion-chasers Oxford put in an outstanding performance to keep their name in the hat for Monday evening’s fifth-round draw.
Karl Robinson’s U’s could even have won the tie at the first attempt, former Hammer Marcus Browne coming close on a number of occasions before Holland entered the action with 13 minutes to go.
November’s Premier League 2 Player of the Month almost made his presence felt in some style. As the game approached injury time, the winger collected the ball near the halfway line on the right, drove past two challenges and smashed a left-footed effort from outside the area which Karl Darlow did brilliantly to beat away.
Oxford and Newcastle will now duke it out once more in a replay scheduled for next week at Kassam Stadium.
On Friday evening, striker Jordan Hugill played the full 90 minutes as Queen’s Park Rangers exited the competition against Sheffield Wednesday, losing 2-1.
A game of few chances between the two Championship sides yielded a stop-start affair, Morgan Fox and Sam Winnall striking for the Yorkshire side at the tail ends of both halves.
The R’s struggled to create much for most of the game, Hugill’s only real opportunity of note coming in the second period from Todd Kane’s cross, but did pull a goal back deep into injury time through Nahki Wells.
Elsewhere, in League One, Conor Coventry came on for the final 20 minutes of Lincoln City’s 1-0 loss to top-of-the-table Ipswich on Saturday afternoon.
The 19-year-old came on with fellow Republic of Ireland U21 international Zach Elbouzedi as the Imps fought to battle back from Luke Woolfenden’s header from a corner on the stroke of half-time.
Coventry’s keen eye for a pass saw him find Lincoln striker Tyler Walker in a promising position with merely minutes remaining at Portman Road.
The home team, however, were able to see out the danger and claim the win, a result which leaves Lincoln in 12th – albeit still only five points off the play-off places.
