Four West Ham United loanees were in action across a busy weekend of football.
Flynn Downes played a starting role for Southampton as the Saints secured a 3-1 win over Birmingham City in the EFL Championship.
The midfielder was at the heart of Southampton’s winning performance against Wayne Rooney’s Blues, with the south coast side collecting another win in a rich vein of form.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis' header from a short corner routine gave the hosts the lead just nine minutes in at St Mary's Stadium, before Carlos Alcaraz put Southampton in complete control on 22 minutes by tapping in Kamaldeen Sulemana's cross.
Birmingham got a foothold in the fixture 13 minutes into the second half when Jay Stansfield halved the deficit, latching onto Lukas Jutkiewicz's flick-on to fire home.
But Downes and Southampton would grab a third goal to secure the three points, as Armstrong tapped in Samuel Edozie's knockdown on 86 minutes.
Downes was voted the Player of the Match by Southampton supporters for his excellent showing; a performance that saw the 24-year-old play 129 passses, with a 97 per cent pass completion rate, make three tackles and win possession on three occasions.
The Saints' recent good run has lifted the team into fourth in the EFL Championship table.
Also declared the Man of the Match this weekend was Nathan Trott, with the goalkeeper impressing in Velje BK's 1-1 draw with Viborg in the Danish Superliga.
Starting in goal against the side West Ham beat in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying play-offs last season, Trott watched on as his team took the lead in the first half thanks to Yeni Ngbakoto's finish.
The shot-stopper was forced into a string of saves to keep Velje ahead, denying the likes of Ibrahim Said and Anosike Ementa what appeared to be certain finishes. The 24-year-old was only beaten, finally, when Ementa slotted home after a mistake in the Velje back-line
Trott's efforts saw him named the player of the game by the match's official sponsor, having faced ten shots on target from Viborg.
In EFL League One, Freddie Potts once again started in midfield for Wycombe Wanderers in a 2-2 draw away to Oxford United.
It was the hosts, managed by former Academy of Football coach Liam Manning, who took the lead in Saturday's contest through Ruben Rodrigues' well-taken volley, but a frantic second half saw three penalties awarded and scored.
Wycombe equalised from the spot on 56 minutes thanks to Luke Leahy's calm finish, after a handball was awarded against Oxford's Marcus McGuane, and Potts and his teammates thought they had secured three points when Leahy placed home another spotkick on 86 minutes.
However, there was late drama at the Kassam Stadium as Oxford were awarded a penalty of their own deep into added time, which Cameron Brannagan tucked away.
With another 90 minutes under his belt, 20-year-old Potts has now played 17 matches in all competitions this season for Wycombe Wanderers.
Finally, midfielder Archie Woods was a second-half substitute for Dartford in a 2-1 defeat away to Hemel Hempstead.
The 20-year-old was introduced on 65 minutes in place of Brandon Barzey, with the score level at 1-1. Dartford had taken the lead thanks to Luke Coulson's penalty on 40 minutes, only for the hosts to hit back immediately through Reece Grant's equaliser.
Joe Iaciofano would get the winning goal for Hemel Hempstead from the penalty spot on 70 minutes, inflicting a sixth defeat of the season on Dartford and leave them 13th in the National League South table.
Goalkeeper Krisztian Hegyi was an unused substitute for Stevenage in a 3-1 EFL League One loss to Derby County, as was Kamarai Swyer in Crawley Town’s 2-1 loss at Forest Green.
