It was quite an ending to 2011 for Simeon Jackson.
With home side Norwich City trailing Fulham by a goal for most of their New Year’s Eve meeting, the 24-year-old waited until the last possible moment to strike. In the third minute of stoppage time, Jackson — who had entered the match as a substitute midway through the second half — rose above a crowded Fulham goalmouth to meet a cross and powerfully nodded the ball into the awaiting goal, sending the Carrow Road faithful into raptures and rescuing a point for the Canaries.
The heroics led to a rare start for Jackson (above) on Jan. 2 and, while he didn’t provide any goal scoring in Norwich’s 2-1 win at QPR, he did play the full 90 for the first time this season.
Elsewhere in England’s Premier League, David “Junior” Hoilett sat out both of Blackburn’s fixtures over the past week, including an historic 3-2 Rovers victory at Old Trafford. Hoilett suffered a muscle strain on Dec. 26 that could keep him out for another week or two.
Down a rung in England’s Championship, defender David Edgar went the distance in each of Burnley’s games over the New Year’s holiday weekend. Edgar’s side split the two matches, winning 1-0 over Hull City on Dec. 31 and dropping a 2-1 decision at Leeds United three days later.
Scotland’s Premier League was also active over the final week of 2011, with Marcus Haber’s St. Johnstone coming out 2-0 victors in a Dec. 28 match vs. Kilmarnock. Haber played all 90 minutes in that one.
Across the continent in Turkey, Manisaspor’s two Canucks each logged 90 minutes in the team’s 2-1 loss at Trabzonspor on Tuesday. Josh Simpson had a relatively quite day while left back Mike Klukowski was shown yellow in the 75th minute as Manisaspor dropped to 11th in the Süper Lig.
Missing in action was goalkeeper Milan Borjan, who has not dressed for fellow Turkish Süper Lig side Sivasspor since Dec. 12 and is rumored to be on the transfer block after less than six months with the club.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Brisbane Roar were 3-1 winners over the Melbourne Victory on Dec. 31 in Australian A-League play, snapping a five-game losing streak for the Roar. Brisbane’s lone Canadian and regular starter, Issey Nakajima-Farran, entered the match in the 67th minute as the manager looked to shake things up at the slumping club.
