I’m delighted to say I got Hoban all wrong
I’M not the only one to get it wrong.
David Walsh, the ‘Sunday Times’ award winning sports journalist, and one of the most respected voices in sport, wrote in his column this week, ‘among the many reasons readers aren’t always enamoured of sports writers, there is one that stands as tall as any: folk in our game don’t like to admit when they get it wrong’.
He was referring to a comment he made some weeks ago when he said that Ryder Cup captain, Thomas Bjorn erred in choosing Sergio Garcia, and Henrik Stenson over Rafa Cabrera Bello and Thomas Pieters for the recent epic contest at the Le Golf National in Paris.
As we all know Bjorn was right and Walsh was wrong, but graceful enough to admit it.
I feel much the same about Patrick Hoban.
When he rejoined Dundalk last November after a three year spell in England I offered the view - of which one supporter constantly reminds me - that Hoban wasn’t a ‘prolific goal scorer’ and as such did not look a suitable replacement for the departing David McMillan to Scottish premiership side, St. Johnstone at the end of last season.
I was making that assessment on Hoban’s three year stint in England in which he made a total of 75 appearances with four different clubs, playing in two different leagues, and scored just seven goals.
No one could have doubted the player’s goal scoring ability during his first spell with Dundalk, for during that period, 2013-2014, he scored 34 goals in 60 appearances, helping the club to runners-up position behind St.Patrick’s Athletic in his first season (when he scored 15) and in the following season he was the top scorer in the League with 20 goals that helped the Lilywhites to their first title in 19 years.
He had joined Dundalk from Mervue United, his home town club in Loughrea in Galway, with whom he started playing soccer. He subsequently had a spell in England, recruited by Steve Coppell for English championship side, Bristol City in July, 2010.
At Bristol City he played alongside, Jimmy Keohane, against whom he will do battle in next month’s FAI Cup final, but both never made the first team in Bristol, with Hoban returning home to turn out again with Mervue United, where he was spotted by Stephen Kenny and enticed to join Dundalk.
His goal scoring feats with Dundalk earned him his second chance at making a name for himself in the English game and he signed for League Two side, Oxford United in November, 2014 having turned down an offer from Scottish Premier side, Kilmarnock.
In his first season with Oxford, the 27-year-old made 20 appearances, scoring just once, and the following season he made 23 appearances, scoring twice.
He then joined Stevenage in the same division on a month’s loan in February, 2016, but made just the one appearance before moving in March of the same year to National League side, Grimsby where he met with some success helping the Mariners win promotion to Division II after an absence of six years from the Football League with a Wembley play-off win over Forest Green Rovers.
Hoban did not score in his 14 appearances with Grimsby and was not retained when his loan period ended.
Released by his parent club, Oxford, the Galway man joined Mansfield Town in June, 2016, and scored his first goal for the Stags in October, making a total of 21 appearances over the season, scoring four times, including a brace against Oldham Athletic in a surprise EFL Cup win.
On his release from Mansfield at the end of last season he returned to Ireland and there was some surprise when Stephen Kenny made him an offer last November to rejoin the club where he had his greatest success.
There is a saying that ‘you should never go back’, but just like Thomas Bjorn proved David Walsh wrong and Pat Hoban has proved me wrong, he has also kicked the saying about never going back in touch.
In heading home his 27th goal of the season in Friday night’s 2-1 win in Waterford, the Loughrea man now stands on the verge of a setting a new goal scoring record for the League that could stand for some years.
His record goal scoring feats in the League of Ireland over his two spells with Dundalk poses the obvious question about his inability to find the net so frequently in his three seasons in English football.
One theory, frequently offered, is that the standard of football in English, even in Division II is much higher than the League of Ireland, and consequently teams are better organised and have better defenders.
Another view is that the teams with whom Hoban played in England did not play to his strengths, whereas, Stephen Kenny who encouraged the striker back to League of Ireland football from junior soccer, knows how to get the best out of the player.
It may be too that Hoban is essentially a ‘home bird’ who thrives best in an environment in which he is greatly cherished.
Not that Stephen Kenny subscribes to the theory that League of Ireland football is played at a lower standard that Division II in England, or indeed the National League.
He points to the fact that Hoban had fitness problems during the latter stages of his career in England and this was obvious during the first month of this season when carefully management of his playing time allowed him to regain his confidence.
Whatever about the merits of the standard of the game here as compared with England, all Dundalk fans are delighted to see Patrick Hoban back grabbing the headlines and when the now familiar cry of the ‘Hobanator’ reverberates round Oriel Park, and appears on posters round town, it shows how much the fans value his goals.
In Friday night’s crowning of the champions in Oriel Park against Sligo Rovers, Hoban will, no doubt, be seeking to add to his goal tally, and any suggestion that Stephen Kenny may rest him in the following week’s final League game against Bohemians before the Cup final will be frowned upon by the player himself who, having set a record, wants to make it even more unassailable.
It’s much the same with the manager himself, for he left no one in any doubt prior to last Friday’s game in Waterford, the days of celebration after securing the title against St. Patrick’s the previous Friday, would be no excuse for a below par performance in Waterford.
Kenny too is chasing his own place in history, with a record points tally for the League within sight, as well as topping the club’s goal scoring record for the League.
He is refusing to allow standards drop, and even without four regular players last Friday, Dundalk controlled the game and were worthy winners.
They will rightly expect a full house in Oriel Park on Friday night for the last home game of the season and when the SSE Airtricity League trophy will be restored to a position in which it has become accustomed, the Dundalk trophy cabinet.
Hopefully there will be a goal or two from Patrick Hoban on the night, providing him with another opportunity to say - I got it wrong.
When he rejoined Dundalk last November after a three year spell in England I offered the view - of which one supporter constantly reminds me - that Hoban wasn’t a ‘prolific goal scorer’