Loan Watch: Clarke and Ballard into third round

Harry Clarke and Daniel Ballard helped Oldham Athletic and Blackpool FC respectively reach the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

Clarke's Oldham beat Bradford 2-1 to progress to the next round after goals from Conor McAleny and Danny Rowe overturned an early Clayton Donaldson penalty. Our young defender played the full match as Harry Kewell's side made it six wins from their last seven games in all competitions.

 

Blackpool also progressed after beating Harrogate 4-0 on the road. Ballard played the full match and kept a clean sheet at the back as goals from Mark Beck, Grant Ward, Jordan Gabriel and Daniel Kemp saw them through.

 

Elsewhere, Tyreece John-Jules made his long-awaited return for Doncaster this weekend as they beat Carlisle 2-1. Our 19-year-old forward had been out since October through injury but came off the bench to replace Joshua Sims on Sunday.

 

Benjamin Whiteman scored twice in 12 first-half minutes to give Doncaster an early advantage in the game before Jonathan Mellish grabbed a late consolation for Carlisle.

 

Matt Smith shone once again for Swindon in League One this weekend. Our young midfielder played the full game as his side scored twice in the last five minutes to beat Oxford 2-1 at Kassam Stadium. The home side took an early advantage through Matt Taylor but were pegged back late on by Tom Broadbent and Tyler Smith.

 

Ben Sheaf played an hour of football as Coventry City struck late to draw 1-1 with Norwich in the Championship. Mario Vrancic opened the scoring in the first half from the spot before Maxime Biamou put Coventry on level terms with a minute to play.

               

James Olayinka played the full match as Southend were beaten 3-0 by Bolton on Saturday. The League Two outfit have struggled in the opening 14 games of the season and currently sit bottom of the league, having picked up just five points this term. Goals from Nathan Delfouneso and a second-half brace from Eoin Doyle settled this one.

 

Tolaji Bola was replaced at half time in Rochdale's 1-1 draw with Northampton at home this weekend. Harry Smith gave Keith Curle's side the lead after 20 minutes before Stephen Humphrys scored late to salvage a point for Rochdale.

 

Mark McGuinness played 20 minutes as Ipswich Town were beaten 2-0 at home by Charlton. Albie Morgan and Omar Bogle both scored as Paul Lambert's side fell to sixth in League One.

 

Elsewhere, Konstantinos Mavropanos made his comeback from injury for Stuttgart this weekend. Our Greek defender returned to the starting XI in the Bundesliga as his side were beaten 3-1 at home by Bayern Munich. Mavropanos played the first hour before being replaced by Atakan Karazor at the back.

 

Stuttgart started the game brightly and took an early lead through 19-year-old Tanguy Coulibaly, but the advantage wasn't to last long. Bayern struck back through Kingsley Coman and Robert Lewandowski to give the visitors the upper hand at the break. Douglas Costa then added a third goal late on to secure the points. 

 

Matteo Guendouzi played the full 90 minutes as Hertha Berlin drew 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen. Guendouzi has impressed during his loan spell in Germany, but his side now slip to 13th in the Bundesliga.