KEEP IT CLEAN
Hoare determined to hold Derry scoreless
BY his own admission, Sean Hoare of Shamrock Rovers is old school. The defender is not big into GPS stats. Rather, he’s a disciple of clean sheets and the doctrine which states that if the opposition don’t score, Rovers can’t lose.
For the visit of Derry City to Tallaght Stadium this evening, Hoare and Co must find a way to muzzle the Premier Division’s in-form striker, Jamie McGonigle.
With nine goals in 14 games, including a last-gasp winner when the teams met in February, McGonigle is a deserving winner of the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers’ Player of the Month award for April.
It’s hard to believe the 26-yearold is the first Derry recipient since Barry McNamee in 2013 yet his selection reflects the Candystripes’ deliverance under Ruaidhri Higgins.
Hoare, who knows the Derry boss from his time as No 2 to Stephen Kenny at Dundalk, is not at all surprised that Higgins has overseen a Foyle-side revival.
‘I’ve worked with Ruaidhri at Dundalk. He was always going to be a manager, it’s in his DNA,’ said Hoare.
‘At Dundalk, he was kind of one of the lads, you could always speak to him. When he left (Dundalk), he was a big loss. He’s doing really well at Derry.’
When the hugely successful Dundalk team broke up at the end of 2020, Hoare and Sean Gannon headed back to their native Dublin and have since become integral to the success of Rovers under Stephen Bradley.
Yet Hoare, 28, admitted it took time for him to ‘bed in’ to the three-man central defence. The key difference? ‘You do a lot more running!’ he quipped.
‘It’s becoming more natural to me this year. Knowing what to do rather than taking an extra second and thinking “What should I do here?”
‘When right of the three, you feel you’re running more. I’ve played right-back before. I’m fit enough to do it.
‘The way we press high is taxing on the body, but it’s worth it. You get the ball back and control it then. It’s kind of risk and reward at times. It’s a great way to play.’
McGonigle observed that Rovers are akin to European sides in the way they play.
Hoare concurs. ‘It’s definitely less Irish-style and I’d never come across it in the League of Ireland before. This is my first time playing it at a club and I respect the gaffer (Stephen Bradley) for sticking to it.
‘It is something that you come up against more in Europe. It makes you think more. It definitely keeps you on your toes more so mentally than the 4-3-3 or 4-4-2.’ Goals galore: Jamie McGonigle with his award McGonigle is someone who will keep Hoare and Co on full alert as he leads the Derry line in Tallaght. Any error will be seized on, as Rovers found out to their cost at the Brandywell.
‘I watched the game back this week and there was nothing in it. We made one mistake and to be fair to McGonigle, he had a lot to do, even after the mistake, and he did it really well.’
A stunning five-goal haul last month, which included a hat-trick against UCD and a brave header against St Pat’s, secured McGonigle’s Player of the Month award.
‘It’s good recognition for the month that I’ve had and the goals that I’ve scored. I always set myself a target for 20 goals and I’m on nine from 14 games at the moment so I am on target,’ said the striker.
Rovers had their own hat-trick hero on Monday in Graham Burke whose 14-minute treble scuttled Sligo Rovers and lifted the champions to the top of the table for the first time in over two months.
With seven wins and a draw in their past eight games, the force is with the Hoops but Derry have plenty of attacking flair in their ranks and have scored in every away game this season.
If Hoare and Co are to keep another clean sheet, they’ll have to earn it.