November 20th 2023
NAIRN County have secured the services of Inverness CT goalkeeper Daniel Hoban on a short-term loan until the end of the season. The 19-year-old stopper goes straight into Ronnie Sharp’s squad for Saturday’s trip to Keith. Hoban had been on loan at Brora Rangers and starred for the Cattachs in their 3-0 home win over Nairn at Dudgeon Park in September. But Joe Malin’s return to full fitness and top form saw Hoban lose his place and now County are set to be the beneficiaries. Manager Ronnie Sharp said: “We have needed another goalkeeper in for a couple of weeks now. Ryan Macleod was away and missed the Fraserburgh game, Dylan Maclean has been struggling with an ankle injury which he tried to play through in that game against Fraserburgh and Fraser Wilkie is now out with a thigh strain." “It means we are a bit thin on the ground for goalkeepers at the moment and we have a lot of games coming up in a short space of time. Bringing Daniel in will add another quality goalkeeper to the squad and will allow us to strengthen that area of the park. It also means that we do not need to rush either of our own goalkeepers back into the team ahead of schedule and can use our under-20s fixtures to build them up to full fitness again." “Daniel is a quality goalkeeper as we saw first hand when he played against us for Brora up there earlier in the season. I thought he talked well in that game, he was off his line quickly and stood up well when we got in behind their defence. There was also one save in particular off a Jordan (MacRae) free kick which was straight out of the top drawer. If he brings that level of performance to us then he will do well.” Hoban’s first taste of the Highland League came as a 17-year-old when he had a short loan spell at Strathspey Thistle, where he featured for the Jags in a 3-1 loss at Station Park almost two years ago to the day. He was then Brora’s first choice goalkeeper at the start of this season until he was struck down by an injury playing for his parent club at Forfar Athletic in the Scottish Youth Cup in October. Upon his return to full fitness in January, he returned to Dudgeon Park but after being unable to dislodge Malin from between the posts, he has now signed on at Station Park until the end of the season. Graeme Macleod
