'Every young player in our changing room should be looking at him' - Glentoran's Halloween goal hero an Irish League treat for boss Declan Devine
Pat Hoban hit a goal double on Halloween night to help Glentoran home over Portadown – with manager Declan Devine declaring the experienced striker a treat to work with following the 2-1 triumph.
The Glens sit level with Premiership leaders Coleraine ahead of the Saturday fixtures following a Friday night win secured off Hoban’s penalty kick before the break and second-half header either side of a finish by Portadown’s Eamon Fyfe.
"Hoban's levels – which he brings on a daily basis, he doesn't just turn up and perform like that - he is the ultimate professional," said Devine on BBC Sport NI. "Every young player in our changing room should be looking at him and seeing what it takes to be a successful professional player.
"We are very fortunate to have him, and I think there is more to come.
"We showed another side to us, which is important.
"We had to fight, scrap and do the ugly stuff well and when you have players at the top of the pitch like Hoban, you always have a chance.
"I am really delighted with the application of the players."
Portadown manager Niall Currie finished frustrated at the manner of the goals conceded to Glentoran – a side now having found the net in every league outing this season – but pleased with the overall effort from a squad suffering due to unavailability.
"We made two mistakes tonight and that is the difference,” said Currie on BBC Sport NI. “We came tonight and gave a fantastic account of ourselves.
"I have told them I am hugely disappointed with the manner of the goals but the performance was superb tonight to a man.
"It is small margins...we have some big hitters missing, but the players who played tonight were absolutely brilliant.”
Also on Friday, Carrick Rangers recorded a single-goal success over 10-man Bangor thanks to Danny Gibson’s added-time effort.
"It's a great time to score a goal, always, in any football match," Carrick Rangers boss Stephen Baxter told BBC Sport NI following the magic moment on 93 minutes. "Two minutes into added time, a team has no time to come back at you.
"But I think we thoroughly deserved it overall in our play."
The 1-0 result marked an end to Carrick’s run of disappointing results.
"Even in the games we've lost, we've stayed competitive and that's all you can really ask,” said Baxter on BBC Sport NI. "If your team is in the game, you're happy...if you come away beaten four or five nil and you've been brutal, then you've got problems.
"But we've been in every contest and that's encouraging.
"Us and Bangor have shocked people...everybody thought we'd be the two whipping teams this year, but we've held our own so far."
Bangor boss Lee Feeney “felt neither team had control of the game”.
He told BBC Sport NI: “I felt neither team had control of the game and it was a scrappy affair.
"It was two teams battling and that's probably down to their qualities, but I don't think either side ever really had a grip on things.
"It was always going to be a tight one, and if there was going to be a goal, it was likely to be just the one.
"Unfortunately, Carrick got it.
"It was a bad way to lose a game, but we've bottled it up, we'll take it on the chin and move on.
"At first view, I definitely didn't think it was a red card."