Northern Ireland international Shea Charles scored a superb winner as Championship side Southampton progressed to the semi-finals of the FA Cup after knocking out Premier League leaders Arsenal at St Mary’s Stadium on Easter Saturday.
With the score standing at 1-1, the tie looked to be heading to extra time when Charles entered the fray as a late second-half substitute. However, the highly rated 22-year-old had other ideas and sent the North London outfit out of the competition with a calmly executed finish with just five minutes left on the clock.
Speaking to the BBC after the game, Charles said: “It’s surreal, we’ve been to Wembley before, but I didn’t play, so going now and to play there, it would be unbelievable.
“I got told to come on and try to get hold of the game, try to keep hold of the ball for a bit, which I thought we did ok, but to score is just special.
“I’m not a striker,” he added. “But when it came to me, I thought, ‘just try and place it in the corner’ and it went from there.
“It’s really special, these fans deserve it, you can see how loud it is, it’s incredible.”
Former JD Academy graduate Ceadach O’Neill was named on the bench for the Gunners in the contest against the Saints, which is the second time the 17-year-old from Kilrea has been included in the Arsenal match-day squad.
Teenager Kieran Morrison was also an unused substitute as Liverpool slumped to a 4-0 quarter-final defeat at Manchester City, who will now face Southampton in the semi-final at Wembley across the weekend of 25/26th April.
Elsewhere, in-form Paul Smyth was again on target for QPR with his third goal in two games as the west-London outfit made it three wins on the bounce with a 2-1 home victory over Watford in the Championship on Saturday.
Also in the Championship, it has been confirmed that Swansea City midfielder Ethan Galbraith will miss the rest of the season with a calf injury, as will Preston North End defender Jamal Lewis who has had surgery on an ankle injury.
Meanwhile. Northern Ireland’s newest international Tom Atcheson, who has just signed a new long-term deal with Blackburn Rovers, played the full 90 minutes in both the Ewood Park’s sides two games over the Easter period when they picked up a crucial four points following a 1-0 win at Birmingham City and a 0-0 draw at West Brom on Easter Monday.
In League Two, Ronan Hale scored in Gillingham’s 2-2 draw at Walsall at the weekend, his fourth since joining the club from Ross County in January and his 16th in total this season.
“He's a very established finisher,” Gillingham boss Gareth Ainsworth told the club website. “We just want to create more chances now.
“Ronan himself will say on his hold-up play and things like that, we need to get him better on that as well. But finishing, I don't need to work on that with him.”
Easter Monday saw Brodie Spencer score his first goal in Oxford United colours in their 2-2 Championship draw against 10-man Portsmouth at Fratton Park, while in League One Josh Magennis came off the bench to score his eighth of the season as relegation threatened Exeter City eased to a 3-0 home win over Doncaster Rovers.
Highly rated goalkeeper Pierce Charles was outstanding for Sheffield Wednesday as they claimed a point in their 1-1 draw at home to Leicester City on Monday.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen was full of praise for 20-year Charles who recorded 11 saves during the Championship contest at Hillsborough
“He is a fantastic goalkeeper, “ he told BBC Radio Sheffield. “Normally we speak about Pierce being top with his feet, today how also showed how mentally strong he is and how strong he is defensively. Top performance from him.”
In the last eight of the Women’s FA Cup, Ellie Mason came on as a substitute as Charlton Athletic fell to a 1-0 extra-time defeat to Super League side Liverpool.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Michael Brammeld made his debut for Isthmian Premier League side Potters Bar at the weekend after joining them on loan from MK Dons until the end of the season.
Finally, in the U18 Premier League, both Broghan Sewell and Luke Hawe were on target as Southampton recorded a 5-1 victory over Ipswich Town counterparts.