Pat Hoban delighted with goalscoring form at Derry City

​The Galway man has hit six goals in five games and has scored in each of Derry's opening games apart from the scoreless draw at the Sligo Showgrounds where he missed a decent effort with a header which appears to still irritate the in-form striker.

It's a sign of his winning mentality and ruthless nature on the pitch that he came off with the matchball tucked under his arm and still felt slightly dejected Derry had taken their foot off the gas after Darragh Leahy's sending off.

"It was a good performance,"said Hoban. "I thought we were very, very good for 55 minutes and then took the foot off the gas a small bit which was a tad frustrating. To be fair to them they started playing when they went down to 10 men. It's another three points on the board and we move on to next Friday."

Hoban could've added another assist to his name with a fine pass to send Daniel [Dickie] Kelly through on goal in the first half after he was beautifully picked out by Brian Maher.

"I back 'Dickie' 10 times out of 10 to score from there. He scored so many goals from that position as well. I know he's a bit disappointed but the goals will come for 'Dickie'.

“I'm just a bit disappointed we could've gone for their throats a bit more in the last 25 or 30 minutes but so be it, we take three points and move on.

"The lads should be filling their boots at that stage of the game when they're down to 10 men. I know they played some good stuff but we probably didn't move the ball the way we should have in the last 15 minutes of it. It's a learning curve."

He scored an instinctive left footed finish against Drogheda on the opening night of the season and a fine glancing header against St Patrick's Athletic. A penalty against Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght followed before scoring that treble on Friday night against Waterford - another reactionary close range strike, a fabulous overhead kick and another from the penalty spot as he got through his repertoire of goals.

That draw in Sligo is the only blot on his copybook and it irks him despite a brilliant return so far.

"I was disappointed I didn't score in Sligo. I felt I had a half chance with a header but you can't score every chance you get. If I did I probably wouldn't be here. That's the nature of the game and you have to take it on the chin. But I'm obviously delighted with the start. We were all disappointed on Monday the way we conceded the last goal and it felt like we dropped two points there especially given the circumstances and the timing of it as well. We move on and I felt we put on a great performance in the first 55 or 60 minutes of the game."

That's seven points from a possible nine after a tough week of fixtures and Hoban praised the character in the dressing room.

"It is an excellent return and we've got to be happy with that. Going away to a team like Shamrock Rovers who won the league the last couple of years and taking a point from that is good. But we're not here to play for draws. We want to be winning games of football. It was a bitterly disappointing group after that game. I think it showed tonight with all the character and desire in the squad that we just kept going."

There was some doubt initially over Hoban's first goal against Waterford but there was no debating it when he was asked if it was his.

"Not a chance. I got contact on it and to be honest I don't even know what happened after that. It hit the back of the net. The referee said to me at half-time, 'did you even touch it' and I said 'what? What are you talking about, of course I did."