Ruaidhrí Higgins delighted as new Derry City duo mark first outings in style

Sligo Rovers 5 Derry City 4

Daniel Kelly netted on his first appearance for Derry City, a pre-season loss at Sligo Rovers

New signings Pat Hoban and Daniel Kelly got their first run-out for Derry City as Ruaidhrí Higgins’ side stepped up their pre-season campaign at Sligo Rovers on Saturday.

The Candystripes, who face Glenavon on Tuesday night, suffered a 5-4 loss at The Showgrounds, but Higgins was happy that the duo got minutes in their legs and expects to have the likes of Cameron Dummigan, Will Patching, Adam O’Reilly and Daniel Mullen all back in the squad in the coming weeks.

Higgins was also delighted that Hoban, who also missed a penalty, netted twice at Sligo and Kelly also marked his debut with a goal.

“They’re goalscorers, both of them have proven over the years that they have scored goals,” he insisted.

“We also saw Pat’s hold-up play as well, his hunger and desire was also there to be seen. He also showed his leadership qualities as well and he got two chances and buried them both and had an overhead kick attempt cleared off the line and he missed a penalty, so he could have had four, but we’ll take two.

“It’s a great start for him, and he looks like he’s got the bit between his teeth.

“Daniel Kelly was always only going to play 30 minutes, he hasn’t trained much in the last week.

“He again showed his qualities, getting in at the back-post area where he gets a lot of goals from.

“Look, the five goals that we gave away were from us being in complete control of possession and then had sloppy passes, giving the ball away and got punished for it.

“We’ve had a good defensive record over the last few years, so it’s unlike us, but it’s learning from these mistakes and making sure we’re more tidy in possession.”

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