Pat Hoban the man who can bridge the gap for Derry City

​Pat Hoban didn't become Dundalk's all-time record scorer by chance and if there were any doubts he could find the net in the red and white then those fears were dispelled on his Brandywell debut.

Higgins had addressed City's failings last season as that home form proved detrimental and they managed 10 less goals than champions Shamrock Rovers in the league.

The arrival of Hoban and Daniel Kelly add an extra cutting edge to an attack already littered with talent and City's new No,9 in particular has the presence and firepower to help sustain a title push this term.

Interestingly, in his first league game for the club, Hoban already equalled the most touches taken inside the opposition box by a Derry striker in a single league game in all of last year – a telling statistic!

"He's got an unbelievable knack of knowing how to score goals and big goals," said the Derry boss. "It's his first competitive goal for the club and it's great for him to get it on the opening night and that will set him off.

"He's an experienced goalscorer and has done it in this leagiue for an awfully long time. I've no doubt if we create opportunities, he'll score goals."

Hoban was always going to hog the headlines on a night his replacement at Oriel Jamie Gullan got off the mark himself with a stunning free-kick against Rovers at Tallaght.

However, Ronan Boyce showed his ability in the final third with a stunning finish while Derry needed to show defensive resolve to withstand a late bombardment of long balls into the box.

And Brian Maher once again produced heroics against the Boynesiders with a smart penalty save from Ryan Brennan.

It was a first opening day win for Derry in five seasons and a welcome Brandywell victory bearing in mind Drogheda went home with a 1-0 win when they visited Foyleside last April.

"It's a good win. These types of fixtures in the early part of last season we dropped too many points. So it's important we rectify that and tonight is hopefully the start of that.

"I'm delighted with the three points, that’s all you really want from the opening fixture. Obviously performance is secondary on the opening day. We had spells in the first half where I thought we were good. We were on the front foot and played some good stuff.

"I felt we lost our composure for a 10 minute period once we went in front which was disappointing but we got it over the line. “Second half was scrappier than I would've liked but we got there.

“It’s three points against a really difficult opponent who have caused us real problems over the last couple of years. So I'm delighted with the three points and we move on.”