The wild ride is over for Iain Hume and his Kerala Blasters teammates – but unfortunately for them, it ended in heartbreak.
Hume’s side took on Atletico de Kolkata in the first-ever Indian Super League final on Saturday. The championship showdown looked destined for extratime until Kolkata’s Mohammed Rafique scored deep into injury time, securing a 1-0 win.
And though his team didn’t claim the big hardware, Hume was voted ISL Player of the Year after completing the league’s inaugural campaign as one of its top scorers, with four goals in the regular season and another in the playoffs.
Simeon Jackson knows what it’s like to score on a big stage, having netted two promotion-winning goals in his career, and he got back to his goalscoring ways this weekend. Jackson came in as a second-half sub for Coventry City on Saturday and notched his third goal of the season just minutes later to salvage a 1-1 draw with Fleetwood Town.
Fraser Aird also opened his account on the year, netting the opener for Glasgow Rangers in their 2-0 win over Livingston on Saturday.
Elsewhere in Scotland, 19-year-old Dylan Carreiro returned to Dundee FC of the Premiership after a successful loan at Arbroath in League Two. Carreiro notched five goals in 11 appearances for Arbroath, and was on the bench for Dundee in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle.
David Edgar also made a return this week, albeit a very short one. Edgar had been stapled to the bench for Birmingham City since being sent off in a game on Oct. 25. On Saturday, he finally got back on the field – though it didn’t come until second-half injury time in a 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town.
Pedro Pacheco, back after serving a one-game suspension for a red card of his own, was in the lineup for CD Santa Clara, going the full 90 in Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Trofense, the club where Toronto FC’s Jordan Hamilton recently spent time on loan.
Junior Hoilett came off the bench for Queens Park Rangers on Saturday and took part in a thrilling comeback, as a Charlie Austin hat trick saw QPR overturn a 2-0 West Brom lead and claim a 3-2 win in Premier League play.
Over in Turkey, Atiba Hutchinson continued carrying a heavy workload for Besiktas. After going the full 90 in Thursday’s surprising 1-0 loss to Rizespor in the Turkish Cup, he went the distance again in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Akhisar Belediyespor. Also in Turkey, Tam Nsaliwa started and finished the game for Bucaspor in a 5-0 defeat to Manisaspor.
Tosaint Ricketts played the full 90 for Hapoel Haifa in Wednesday’s loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv, but only lasted 25 minutes in Saturday’s win against Hapoel Acre.
Randy Edwini-Bonsu went 78 minutes for Stuttgarter Kickers in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Sonnenhof Grossaspach. That result, in Stuttgarter’s final league game of the calendar year, leaves the squad sitting third in Germany’s 3. Liga heading into 2015.
Fellow striker Marcus Haber saw a few minutes of action for Crewe Alexandra, coming on late in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Bristol City. Michael Petrasso also came on a substitute for Notts County in a 2-2 draw with Rochdale.
Canadian defenders saw a bit more playing time this week. Andre Hainault started a pair of games for VfR Aalen (and picked up a pair of yellow cards while he was at it), while Luca Gasparotto played a now-familiar role for Airdrieonians, going the full 90 on the backline in a 1-1 draw with Forfar Athletic.
