SEAN HOARE’S FIRST season as a Dundalk player didn’t get off to a dream start, but it can certainly still have a happy ending.
With Brian Gartland, Niclas Vemmelund and — until he departed recently for Waterford — Paddy Barrett all vying to impress manager Stephen Kenny, Hoare had plenty of competition to contend with in his bid to force his way into the centre of the Lilywhites’ defence.
But after back-to-back starts, the 23-year-old is now confident of playing a significant role for Kenny’s side during a run-in which will offer them a chance to complete a cup treble.
After tomorrow’s Louth derby against Drogheda United at Oriel Park in the quarter-finals of the FAI Cup, Dundalk will turn their attentions to the EA Sports Cup final against Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght a week on Saturday. Further down their list of priorities is a Leinster Senior Cup semi-final away to UCD, currently scheduled for 19 September.
For Hoare, a trio of cup triumphs would represent a satisfying conclusion to a season which had an inauspicious beginning. Having joined from St Patrick’s Athletic on the same day that Preston North End announced the signing of Andy Boyle, he was initially billed as a direct replacement for the Republic of Ireland international.
Big shoes to fill, but Hoare’s hopes of doing so were hampered on the eve of the new season when an old groin injury flared up. As Dundalk stumbled through the opening weeks of their bid for a fourth consecutive Premier Division title, the Dubliner had to watch from the sidelines as Cork City disappeared into the distance.
“For me personally it’s been a stop-start year,” Hoare admits. “It’s been a bit of a learning curve. The injury didn’t help obviously. It was a bit frustrating because I came through pre-season fine, but then I was struggling with that for five or six weeks.
“Even taking that into account, I was never going to come to a club like this — the triple champions — and walk straight into the team. That would have been very hard, but I knew what I was getting myself into when I signed. I was ready for the hard work. When I do play now I have to make sure I’m at my best to stay in the team.
“Every time I play I feel like I’m doing really well. It just shows the competition that we have — that even if you do well, you’re not guaranteed to start in the next game. I think I’ve found a bit of form and so has the team. I’m confident that when I do play, I’ll play well. I think I’m capable of keeping that starting position but that’s not for me to decide. In terms of performance, I’ve done all I can do.”
After contributing a stunning goal as Dundalk booked their place in the last eight of the FAI Cup at the expense of Crumlin United, Hoare retained his starting place for last weekend’s 6-0 win over St Pat’s. He came close to scoring against his former club too, heading off the post from a corner before Thomas Stewart tucked away the rebound.
Another league title might be out of reach at this stage, but despite the perception that Dundalk have had a poor campaign, they can still finish with 74 points — the same tally that saw them crowned champions in 2014. The Lilywhites have now won six games in a row, keeping five clean sheets in the process.
Hoare says: “With the run that Dundalk were on in the last three years, especially last year with the European results, everyone thought we’d just light things up this year and wouldn’t lose a game. The expectations were really high, which was only natural, so when that didn’t turn out to be the case everyone jumped to conclusions that we weren’t the same team and stuff like that.
“The nature of Cork’s start just highlighted the hiccups we were having. We had a lot of new faces — myself included — and lads leaving as well, so obviously you’re going to have a transition period. But I think in the last few months we’re starting to knit together and show what we can do as a team.”
Although Cork City have been beaten in three of their last five league outings, the Leesiders still hold a 14-point lead with six games remaining. Instead of closing the gap on the leaders, Hoare insists that Dundalk are focused on securing second place. Shamrock Rovers are currently 12 points behind, while Derry City are a point further back but with a game in hand.
“We’re just trying to get away from whoever is in third spot,” he says. “That’s the only gap we’ve been thinking about. But yeah, everyone has been saying how crazy would it be if they [Cork City] did slip up. There’s a minimal chance of that happening now.
“It was always going to be tough for them after losing a striker [Sean Maguire] who scored 20 goals in nearly half a season. It’s tough to replace that. But I think they’ve done enough already. If the league was starting now it might be a bit different.”
His first season with Dundalk doesn’t look likely to yield a league medal, but a return to the Aviva Stadium for another taste of FAI Cup final day on 5 November is a distinct possibility. Hoare has fond memories of the occasion from his time at St Patrick’s Athletic.
Despite beginning the 2014 season as a 19-year-old novice, he gradually overtook more experienced campaigners such as Ken Oman and Derek Foran in Liam Buckley’s defensive pecking order. Hoare formed a solid partnership alongside Kenny Browne as Pat’s went on to reach the FAI Cup final against Derry City.
Following the Saints’ first triumph in the competition in 53 years — a Christy Fagan brace sealed a 2-0 win — Hoare was rewarded with a call-up from Republic of Ireland U21 manager Noel King. But his performances were being recognised across the Irish Sea too.
“That was a brilliant day, probably my best memory as a Pat’s player,” he recalls. “You can’t replicate something like that. It was an unbelievable experience in front of a big crowd in such a big stadium. Everyone wants to get to that stage, it’s a carrot dangling in front of you as soon as the cup games start. I’d love to experience that again and hopefully lift the cup as well.”
Reflecting on the manner in which he defied his inexperience to become a regular fixture in a team that also contained the likes of Ger O’Brien, Keith Fahey, Chris Forrester, Greg Bolger and Killian Brennan, Hoare admits that he probably didn’t understand the extent of that achievement at the time.
“I didn’t, to be honest. At the time I was just young and confident. No disrespect to the lads I was starting ahead of but I just felt that I could hold my own on that stage,” says Hoare, who joined Pat’s from Shelbourne in 2012.
“I wouldn’t have signed for Pat’s in the first place if I thought I was going to just spend a few years on the bench. I was confident, and maybe even a bit naive, but that’s just how I felt as a young lad.
“Liam Buckley showed confidence in me that maybe other managers wouldn’t have. He could have easily gone with experience in a big final like that, but Kenny Browne and myself did well together that season and the gaffer backed me in that situation.
“I probably didn’t realise how big that was back then. I actually look at that squad sometimes and think ‘Jesus, we should have done a lot more’. But it’s something I look back on very positively.”
Since he first emerged at League of Ireland level, ‘potential’ has often been the keyword associated with Sean Hoare. An athletic centre-half with plenty of pace, he’s strong in the air and composed when in possession. His good days have been very, very good, but there’s always been a sense that the best is yet to come.
Shortly after the FAI Cup success of 2014, he went on trial to Hull City. Reports at the time suggested that the two clubs were unable to agree a fee. Speculation over a move to Swindon Town ahead of the start of the 2016 season also came to nothing.
His ultimate ambition is still to play abroad, but he’s no longer in such a hurry. Having been inspired by the career paths of previous League of Ireland graduates, and with a degree in business and accounting under his belt from Maynooth University, Hoare knows that he has built a solid foundation for the future — whether that’s in football or elsewhere.
He says: “It’s great to have the degree in the back pocket and it’s there for me to fall back on if I ever need it. But for now I’m just seeing how the football will go and I’m enjoying it. There has been talk of going to England and stuff like that in the past but I’m a believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason and at the right time.
“I feel like I have progressed with Dundalk. No disrespect to Pat’s but it’s a clear step-up here, in terms of the professionalism and the standard in training. It’s a lot more intense. I think Stephen Kenny has made me a better player, he’s a great manager, so I think I have pushed on.
“When there was speculation about a move abroad, if I said back then that I’d still be in the League of Ireland three years later then maybe I wouldn’t have liked the sound of that. But I do think I have progressed and I’m still quite young for a centre-half.
“People think that you’ve missed the boat if you’re not gone abroad by 16 or 17, but the likes of Andy Boyle, Richie Towell and Daryl Horgan, they’ve gone in their mid-20s so it’s never really too late.
“I still have ambitions to do that and I believe I have come on as a player. This isn’t a bad league either, even though people like to knock it a lot. This is a great place to learn your trade, and if you can get a college degree as well while you’re doing it then that’s even better.”
