Mixed night for Hoban

IT was a mixed night of emotions for Pat Hoban, who missed an early penalty only to fire a second half brace to take his number of goals this season to 29, equalling the feat last achieved by Brendan Bradley in 1975/76. His first spot kick, which was pushed onto the post by Ed McGinty, was the second penalty miss of his career and ironically both have now come against Sligo Rovers. He also missed a penalty in a 1-0 victory over the Bit O Red at the Showgrounds on May 28th 2013 - hitting the bar in a game in which current team-mate Gary Rogers was in goal. His penalty miss was the 11th recorded under Stephen Kenny’s reign but Hoban is now the first player to miss two. He did chip in with a penalty after that – the ninth of his career – and it was a landmark 80th goal in the League of Ireland. His second goal also saw him move level with the former occupant of the number nine shirt, David McMillan. The pair now have 74 goals each for the club. Friday night’s double was the 21st brace of Hoban’s career. To put that in context he managed just 21 goals in total for former club Mervue Utd. ON what was the 175th start of his career, John Mountney scored just the second double of his career against Sligo Rovers on Friday night. His ninth minute opener was his 20th goal for the club and his first against the Bit O Red. His double helped him to two career bests with his fourth league goal of the season his best return to date in a season. It was also his fifth goal in all competitions, which surpassed his previous best of four. The Mayo man’s record of Dundalk winning every time he has scored continued on Friday night. He has now won more League of Ireland medals (4) than his native Mayo have won All-Irelands (3).