Big top-four battles will be crucial

DUNDALK striker Pat Hoban believes head-to-head clashes with the top four could decide the outcome of this year’s title race.

That’s why he reckons Shamrock Rovers’ visit to Oriel Park on Friday night is a huge game, with Stephen Bradley’s side currently sitting just two points off the Lilywhites albeit with a game more played.

‘All the head to head clashes are massive,’ he said.

‘All the teams at the top have won tonight again, Waterford won, Cork won and Shamrock Rovers won so all the big clashes are massive. Hopefully we’ve a massive crowd here on Friday to help drive us on and get another performance like the one against Bohs.’

Hoban made his first league start in his second spell with the club against the Hoops in Tallaght back in February. That was a frustrating scoreless night for Stephen Kenny’s side but since then they have been building good momentum with Hoban having taken his tally of goals in between to five.

The 26-year-old feels he is getting better with each passing game and is confident of causing the Tallaght men more problems this time around than when he last faced them.

‘My first start against them I was only back from injury and I had no pre-season or anything under my belt so hopefully it’s a different story come Friday night.

‘We’ll be all raring to go and hopefully we’ll get another three points.’

The Loughrea native was delighted with his side’s performance against Bohemians on Friday and pinpointed the impact of Krisztián Adorján on his league debut as evidence of the strength in depth that Dundalk currently possess.

‘It was a great result again,’ he said. ‘You can’t get much better than 3-0 at home and eight clean sheets ina-row. We just have to keep focused and keep it going. We’ve a big game against Shamrock Rovers next week and hopefully we can keep it going for that.

‘Krisztián done really well. We have such a great squad and he has been waiting for his chance. Ronan (Murray) has been excellent but he got an injury on Tuesday so just missed out tonight.

‘Everyone who came in was excellent I thought. Stephen Folan came in at centre half and looked composed. It’s good knowing we have lads there who can come in to make a difference.’

It was Adorján who won the 24th minute penalty which Hoban converted to get his side up and running. He revealed his delighted at being afforded spot kick duties having lost the role of penalty taker after his miss away to Sligo Rovers in his previous spell with the club in May 2013.

‘After Robbie (Benson) missed the penalty against Cork, I made it clear that I wanted to be on them. We had a discussion and hopefully I keep putting them away now.

‘Since I’ve been at Dundalk I’ve never been able to hit penalties before. Obviously hitting penalties isn’t easy but it can add to your tally. As long as I keep focused hopefully I can keep scoring goals and keep putting in good performances.’

Hoban admitted his admiration for the quality of the finish by full back Sean Gannon for his side’s second goal just after the hour mark but said he’d have been chasing him had he not put the chance away.

‘It was a great finish but if he didn’t score I’d have been running down the M50 after him because I was there for a little square pass but it was a great finish in fairness to him,’ he laughed.

‘Obviously he gave the keeper the eyes so it was a great finish.

‘You need other lads scoring in the team like that. You don’t win anything with just your striker scoring. You need everyone else chipping in and we’ve a lot of players in that team who can score goals, not just me and Mickey Duffy but there’s centre halves from corners, Robbie Benson, Jamie McGrath and even Ganno tonight. As long as we all keep chipping in with goals and keep winning goals then we’re happy out.’

Friday’s result makes it eight games unbeaten for Dundalk without conceding but Hoban believes there is more to come from the Lilywhites in the weeks ahead.

‘I do believe we’re getting a lot stronger as the games go by and that’s only a good sign,’ he said.

‘I still believe there’s another few gears in us but we’re winning games still. We won tonight convincingly and we just have to keep that going now and keep driving forward and keep it going.

‘It’s a long season so you just have to concentrate on putting in performances like that every week.’