Hoban scores six in Glens win as Blues beat Bangor

A wildfire Glentoran thrashed the 10-man Carrick Rangers 7-0 at Taylors Avenue, which Pat Hoban scored six goals.

Reece Glendinning was sent off for Carrick in the opening period, and Hoban added two more goals before Liam Burt scored the fine seventh.

The Glens now have three games in hand over the Bannsiders, moving them to two points behind Coleraine.

With a crushing 6-1 victory over Bangor at Windsor Park, Linfield resumed their winning ways after a three-game losing streak.

With a 2-0 victory over Dungannon Swifts at Seaview, Crusaders finished their three league games unbeaten.

After only nine minutes, Hoban, a top scorer, opened the scoring for the Glens.

Hoban tapped a low shot past Scott Pengelly into the bottom corner of the net after Ryan Cooney delivered a low cross from the right.

Five minutes later, Hoban and Cooney exchanged free kicks into the Carrick Rangers defense, where the former Derry City man out-jumped everyone and headed home.

Four minutes before half-time, Hoban skillfully added another lapse from Carrick’s defending to fire home from 12 yards after Cameron Palmer had given him the opportunity to complete his hat-trick.

He didn’t get there either, as he did just before the break when he hit a superb header into the far post from one of his close-range free kicks.

The 34-year-old front man unsurprisingly picked up where he had left off at the start of the second half, heading home from a second Cooney corner in the 50th minute.

He scored his sixth incredible personal contribution just before the break when he coolly tucked his fifth assist of the day straight home from Cooney.

In an Irish Premiership game, he scored a double hat-trick in a 9-0 victory over Omagh Town in October 2004 to become the first player since Portadown’s Gary Hamilton to do so.

Soon after, Hoban was replaced with a standing ovation, but the scoring didn’t stop there.

Just after the hour, Burt scored the arguably most important goal of the game by curling a delightful shot over the head of Carrick goalkeeper Pengelly.

After Matthew Fitzpatrick’s pull-back evaded Chris McKee and scurried into his path, Charlie Allen managed to break the deadlock in 17 minutes with a composed finish.

The Blues doubled their lead just two minutes later, this time with a powerful left-footed strike from Matt Yates. His shot hit the goalkeeper with a good angle, but it was too quickly for Patrick Solis Grogan to stop it.

Just seven minutes into the second half, the Blues added a third, thanks to McKee’s slightly fortunate passing that Fitzpatrick’s pass struck Reece Neale head, which indicated he had been played onside, and he made no mistakes as he fired past Solis Grogan.

Moments later, Linfield was awarded the lead when Fitzpatrick scored with a first-time right-footed strike.

Before the hour mark, the visitors found some solace as Harry Lynch delivered no errors from the spot after Ben Arthurs was pushed by Fitzpatrick.

After five minutes, the Crusaders put a start on Finley Thorndike’s move that they completed.

Before making a quick pass to Elliot Dunlop, the midfielder tapped the ball at Gael Bigirimana with his strength to get it in the middle of the pitch.

Thorndike showed his composure by letting the ball run across him before passing past Declan Dunne as the winger.

Adam Glenny was Dungannon’s best attempt at the half, despite their best efforts.

The defender’s side-footed effort passed Musa Dibaga from a corner into the box, but it ricocheted off the post to keep the hosts in front.

When Jarlath O’Rourke cleared the ball to Fraser Bryden in the 49th minute, the striker controlled it with his chest before firing his 15th goal of the season into the area.

When Lloyd Anderson delivered a low cross to Thorndike, the hosts almost scored, but the midfielder fired his effort over the crossbar.

Glenny had the best chance of the second half, but Dibaga had a strong save in the end zone.