Patrick Hoban has called on Dundalk to tighten up ahead of Bank Holiday Monday’s trip to the UCD Bowl.
John Martin’s injury-time winner helped the Lilywhites to a dramatic – and much-needed – win in Friday’s Louth Derby against Drogheda United at Oriel Park.
Dundalk make the trip to Belfield looking to build on that derby success but Hoban said would be far from straightforward against a UCD team that drew with league leaders Bohemians on Friday night, and took four points from the two meetings with Dundalk at the Bowl last year.
“UCD may be bottom of the table but they are just off the back of getting a result against Bohemians and we drew with them at the start of the season, so it’s not going to be easy,” he said.
“They beat us up there last season as well and we know that we have to be on our A-game to win matches in this league. If you’re not, you’re going to drop points.
“We just need to stop conceding sloppy goals because we’re actually controlling a lot of the games but we’re conceding silly goals.
SSE AIRTRICITY MEN'S PREMIER DIVISION TABLE
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Shamrock Rovers | 36 | 20 | 12 | 4 | 67 | 27 | 40 | 72 |
| 2 |  Derry City | 36 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 57 | 24 | 33 | 65 |
| 3 |  St Patrick’s Athletic | 36 | 19 | 5 | 12 | 59 | 42 | 17 | 62 |
| 4 |  Shelbourne | 36 | 15 | 15 | 6 | 44 | 27 | 17 | 60 |
| 5 |  Dundalk FC | 36 | 17 | 7 | 12 | 59 | 44 | 15 | 58 |
| 6 |  Bohemians | 36 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 53 | 40 | 13 | 58 |
| 7 |  Drogheda United | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 40 | 54 | -14 | 41 |
| 8 |  Sligo Rovers | 36 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 36 | 51 | -15 | 37 |
| 9 |  UCD | 36 | 2 | 5 | 29 | 19 | 96 | -77 | 11 |
“You can’t do that at this level and you’re going to get punished but luckily enough we kept probing against Drogheda. The heads didn’t drop, we kept going as a team, and we got over the line together as a team.”
Hoban marked his return to the starting XI with a goal and two assists against the Drogs. It was the first time the Dundalk captain had started a game since injuring a hamstring in the Louth Derby win at Weaver’s Park in March and he said he was feeling good.
“It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks for myself, but it was great to be involved and obviously to get the three points was an even better feeling.
“I felt sharp going into the game and I felt sharp in training as well during the week so when the chance fell to me, I felt quite within myself.
“You just have to try and hit the target and keep your head over the ball. At the moment, I felt like I actually struck the ball quite low, so I was happy when it hit the net.”
