‘Winning is all that matters’ - Derry striker Pat Hoban

Waterford vs. Derry City   |   RSC   |   Friday, 7:45pm

Pat Hoban insists that the team’s achievements are much more important than his own as Derry City head to Waterford hoping to win successive games for the first time this season.

The striker, who made a goal-scoring return to the starting line-up against St. Patrick’s Athletic on Monday night, has now taken his tally to 8 goals in 10 appearances, the best return from any Derry City striker at this stage of a season since Rory Patterson in 2013.

But for Hoban, it was more important to win, and he deflected any praise onto his strike partner Danny Mullen, who scored two in the 3-1 victory.

“Three points was the main aim, no matter who really scored,” he said. “Obviously, it's great to score again and great to see Danny score two as well. I won't talk about my performance because I wasn't the best, but it was good to get 90 minutes underneath the legs because it feels like such a long time since I played.”

After dropping points at Drogheda United and then losing at home to Shamrock Rovers, a win was badly needed to lift morale around the club.

“Yeah, and obviously, you know, the Friday before that as well at Drogheda, the way we drew that game as well, was really frustrating,” Hoban agreed. “So, it was just about winning. There was good resilience in the team, so I thought we were well-deserved of the win, to be honest with you.”

“I didn't have the best of games, and you can hear the moans and groans, but if you don't take that on the chin on a football pitch, you're in trouble.

“You know, I've been there, done it, heard plenty of noise before. But, you know, at the end of the day, it's about winning football matches. And, you know, if a game's not going your way in terms of on the ball, the least you can do is work hard and win your battles.”

Starting with two recognised strikers worked out well for Derry City against Pat’s, and Hoban, who himself has mainly played as a sole attacker throughout his career, admitted the benefits were obvious.

“Throughout my career, I probably haven't for various reasons of style of play and patterns of play and stuff like that,” he reflected. “You can see the benefits of it with Danny getting two and Danny played excellent against Shamrock Rovers too, so he deserves his spot in the team and thankfully I'm able to slot in there beside him.”

IMPACT… Pat Hoban scored a hat trick against Waterford back in March. (Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile)

“It's a bit different though out of possession, as you can probably tell. At the end of the day, I scored one today and Danny got two. Results wise and winning a game of football, goals is what matters and that's what mattered.”

‘All over the place’

Bizarrely, the Candystipes are still without successive wins a third of the way into the season, yet they sit just three points off top spot in the Premier Division. Hoban knows consistency is needed quickly however if Derry City are to remain in touch at the top.

“You can see with the league table, it's a bit all over the place,” he agreed. “Everyone's beating everyone and everyone's dropping points to everyone. I think I said this at the start of the season, if you're 1% off at all, you're either going to lose a game or draw a game in the League of Ireland. And especially this year, a lot of teams have a lot of quality and they can hurt you. So, if you're off at 1%, you're in trouble.”

Hoban scored a hat trick in the 3-0 win over Waterford at the Brandywell back in March but he knows that a visit to the RSC will be a serious test with teams like Shelbourne, St. Pat’s and Galway United already dropping points there this season. But Derry’s need is great, and Hoban is determined to help his team find their form.

“It's all about consistency and getting a run going,” he reiterated. “And all of a sudden, that would breed confidence and a winning mentality as well. I don't really like going back into the past, but it builds like a flow. You're just bouncing into games. It feels like you're just winning games of football without really doing too much. You nearly have it won before you go out. It felt like that with Dundalk, but, you know, times have changed.

“I think the league is really, really strong this year. And you can see that with the results. Shels lost to Galway last week, 1-0 and they drew with Shamrock Rovers, 0-0. It's kind of nearly on the day now. But, yeah, we definitely need to get a good consistent run going together.”