How the Irish fared: Anthony Pilkington pounces as Cardiff win again
Pilkington’s neat strike put the unbeaten Bluebirds ahead with 21 minutes remaining before Mason made the points safe eight minutes later.
Pilkington tweeted: “tough and frustrating game at times today but another 3 points and clean sheet. 3 on the bounce now. off the mark hoping for few more now.” Cardiff now trail only Brighton in the table and Chris Hughton’s men stretched their lead to four points after a 1-0 win over Hull.
Hughton was asked if Brighton, who finished 20th last season, were genuine promotion candidates and told reporters: “We wanted to be in a position where we could at least challenge to go up. That is still the case.
“We’ve made a tremendous start and I could not have envisaged it. I was hopeful we could challenge better. At the moment the margins are going our way.” In League One, Saturday was a landmark day in the fledging career of Aiden O’Brien after the 21-year-old’s first senior hat-trick fired Millwall to a 3-1 win at Crewe.
O’Brien second goal was one he won’t forget in a hurry, a stunning 30-yard strike that restored Millwall’s lead.
“What a hat-trick,” Millwall manager Neil Harris drooled. “He’s got the ability and quality to do that. It wasn’t just his goals, his all-round performance was good.” Saturday was also a good day for Conor Hourihane as he scored one and made two in Barnsley’s 4-1 rout of Swindon.
Tykes boss Lee Johnston said: “I thought Conor Hourihane was massive in what we did today, he was a captain out there. He recognised everything that needed to be recognised and helped apply pressure on them, meaning we started to nick things.” Paddy Madden maintained his fine early-season form as his fourth goal of the season gave Scunthorpe a 1-0 win over Coventry.
Madden said: “I’m happy, but I’m more happy that we’ve got a massive win. For me to score it’s an extra bonus. I’m just delighted we’ve got three points.” Elsewhere, Jimmy Ryan was on the mark in Fleetwood’s 1-1 draw with Bradford, a Rhys Murphy goal couldn’t prevent Oldham from crashing to a 5-1 home defeat against Peterborough while Chris McCann was also on the scoresheet in a losing cause as Wigan went down 3-2 to Port Vale.
It was an uneventful weekend for the Irish contingent in League Two although Eddie Nolan did net in York’s 2-2 draw at Stevenage.
In the SPL, Saturday was a mixed day for the Irish at Aberdeen as Adam Rooney was on the scoresheet via a penalty while Jonny Hayes was sent off.
However, Hayes’ dismissal – a decision that looked harsh – failed to prevent Aberdeen from recording a 2-1 win over Celtic to go top.
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