DON’T LIGHT HIS FUSE..
Massey warns there will be fireworks if anyone crosses Hoban
ARMED with a supply of Halloween fireworks, Pat Hoban took matters into his own hands as he sought revenge on team-mates who dared mess with his gear.
The ace striker has been dubbed a ‘whinge bag’ but Dane Massey insists you don’t cross Hoban – on or off the field.
“Some of the lads were messing with his gear and he really got the hump,” said Massey ahead of Sunday’s FAI Cup final.
“He bought loads of fireworks last week and tied the lads’ gear to the fireworks. That’s the type of person you’re dealing with. No messing.
“Fats (Patrick Mceleney, inset) had a brand new pair of Nike runners, spanking white, and they were black afterwards!
“Fair play to him. Good idea. He’s a messer alright, an anti-christ. We have that banter, telling him ‘Pat, you can’t have the lads messing with your gear like that’ and he took it upon himself to make sure no one else would!
“It’s all a bit of craic, everyone was having a laugh and no harm really.”
Dundalk are praying the 31-goal striker overcomes his ankle injury in time to face Cork City in Sunday’s decider.
But left-back Massey is in no doubt the Galway man proved his critics wrong after three frustrating, injury-hit years in
England. “Pat’s a whinge bag,” laughed Massey, who is tasked with putting crosses on a plate for Hoban.
“He’s the narkiest man you will ever meet and I’m sure Sean Gannon will say the same – if you don’t put the ball in the box you’ll know about it.
“Pat wants to score goals, that’s what he’s there for and that’s all he wants to do. He never stops, he’s always whinging about something.
“Pat came back from England and has been much hungrier this year. When we don’t have the ball his work rate is phenomenal.
“The amount of goals he has scored, none of the lads here are
surprised by that. Some people might have questioned him coming home and had doubts. But he has answered it this year. He’s thrown himself around and smashed records.”
Massey first played with Hoban at Dundalk in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, when the Lilywhites finished second and first respectively.
But he says the striker is now a different beast.
Massey added: “I definitely noticed a difference when he came back. He had the bit between his teeth. He was trimmer, much fitter and stronger.
“Just throw the crosses in there and you know Pat will be fighting for it. If he’s not he’ll be scrapping with a centre-half, making a nuisance of himself.”