GOOD NEWS: as Derry Star Patrick Hoban Celebrates an Amazing…
A Pat Hoban hat-trick saw Derry City continue their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-0 win over Waterford at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.
This was a clash of second against third coming into the game, but Ruaidhri Higgins’ men brought the Premier Division new boys back down to earth with a bump.
Hoban’s hat-trick came with a quick-fire salvo either side of half-time.
He has now scored six goals in his first five games for the club.
Hoban’s hat-trick came with a quick-fire salvo either side of half-time.
He has now scored six goals in his first five games for the club.
The result wasn’t enough to put the Candystripes top as early pacesetters Shelbourne won 2-0 against Bohemians at Dalymount Park.
On a blustery night in the north-west, the conditions played havoc with passes early in the game, which made continuity difficult to find.
The hosts were playing with the wind on their backs in the first half as it blew up and down the length of the pitch. Michael Duffy had a half-chance after just five minutes but his shot was blocked, while, at the other end, Connor Parsons was denied by a good reaction save by Brian Maher after a goalmouth scramble.
That was as good as it got for Waterford in the first half as Derry started to click with Duffy linking up well with Paul McMullan and Daniel Kelly, who were causing the Blues’ defence trouble.
The latter of that trio wasted a golden opportunity to open the scoring on the half hour mark after beating the offside trap, but he placed his effort wide when one-on-one with Sam Sargeant.
Hoban has got off to a hot start with his new employers and, just as it looked like the game would be goalless at the break, he struck with a quick-fire double.
First, on 41 minutes, the visiting defence didn’t react to a quick free-kick taken by McMullan and Hoban put the finishing touches on Duffy’s cut-back.
Then, in the dying embers of first half stoppage time, Waterford failed to deal with the bouncing ball in the box and the Derry striker finished spectacularly with an overhead kick from 12 yards.
