Loan Report: Royals Relishing Returns To Scotland

In his first loan spell at Hamilton, Luke Southwood was thrown in at the deep end when his run of games in the team began. His second loan spell started no different as Celtic came to town, and cruised to a 4-1 victory against the Accies. The home side took a shock lead midway through the first half but ten minutes before half time, Hamilton were reduced to ten men, proving the turning point in the game. A minute after the red card Celtic were level, and grabbed three goals in the final 12 minutes to complete the rout.

However, there was a change of fortunes in midweek for Hamilton, as a trip to St Mirren saw the Accies grab a 1-1 draw. New signing David Templeton gave the visitors a lead midway through the first half but with just under 20 mins to go, the home side drew level and the game finished in a draw. Southwood played the full 90 in both games, and with Owain fon Williams going out on loan, the number-one shirt at Hamilton looks set to be Southwood’s for the rest of the season and the fans seem to be happy about that.

Denizlispor left it late to rescue a point against Goztepe, as their winless run stretches to five games in the Super Lig. The visitors took the lead inside ten minutes through Serdar Gurler, and with just four minutes left on the clock, Oscar Esputinan grabbed a deserved equaliser for the Roosters, in a game the home side dominated. Mo Barrow played the full 90 minutes but had a quiet game.

It was a good weekend for Ateltico Baleares as a 1-0 win away at SS Reyes saw them return to the top of the Segunda Division B table. The only goal of the game came just after the half hour with Albert Fernandez putting into his own net. A defeat for Atletico Madrid B saw Baleares move three points clear at the top. Jordan Holsgrove played the full 90 minutes for Atletico, and picked up a booking in the process.

Returning to Dagenham and Redbridge on loan for the rest of the season, Ben House started for the Daggers on their trip to fellow Vanarama National League strugglers Wrexham. The game finished 0-0 with House being substituted with just over 20 minutes to go. House didn’t make many appearances in his first spell but did have an immediate impact. Hopefully the young striker can score plenty of goals between now and the end of the season and make a real impression.

After his loan spell at Sunderland was cut short, Marc McNulty was sent out on loan to Hibernian for a second time during his Reading career, joining up with the manager that brought him to Sunderland at the start of the season, Jack Ross. Last Saturday, Hibernian hosted St Mirren and had to come from 2-0 down to rescue a point. McNulty started the game on the bench but was brought on with half an hour to go, to help his side in search of a winner with the score already at 2-2.

Midweek saw Hibs travel to Rangers but they were defeated 2-1. Hibs did take the lead in the game ten minutes before half time, but Rangers drew level just before half time. With six minutes to go, Rangers grabbed the winning goal. McNulty came off the bench with two minutes to go in search of an equaliser but it wasn’t to be. McNulty certainly seems to be relishing the opportunity in Scotland once again however.

After a long Christmas break, the Romanian league got back up and running once again, with Steaua Bucharest playing two games this past week. Steaua first travelled to league leaders CFR Cluj were they were defeated 1-0 after having a man sent off. Midweek Steaua travelled to Voluntari and picked up a 2-1 win. Adrian Popa was an unused sub against Cluj, but came off the bench in the final minute of normal time against Voluntari. Maybe his lack of playing time has something to do with this?