Playing for Hartlepool United yesterday a ‘weird’ experience for Irish midfielder

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Gavan Holohan had a stint with Waterford before moving to Hartlepool United.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

THE FOOTBALL SEASON for Premier League and EFL clubs in England has ground to a halt due to the spread of coronavirus. However, for the teams with aspirations of attaining Football League status, the show somehow goes on.

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Fixtures went ahead yesterday in the National League, one of which featured former League of Ireland midfielder Gavan Holohan.

Twenty-four hours after being rewarded with a new two-year contract by Hartlepool United, Holohan scored a second-half equaliser that earned a point for his club away to Sutton United.

Hartlepool made the 900-kilometre round trip for the game at Gander Green Lane, where 2,126 spectators witnessed Holohan netting his ninth goal of the season in the 53rd minute. Westmeath native Aidan Keena also featured for the visitors as a substitute.

“It was a bit strange, to be honest,” Holohan told BBC Radio Tees after the game. “You see the rest of the games being called off in the Premier League and EFL, and I suppose we were all expecting that ours was going to be called off.

“But then we got word when we were down training in Oxford yesterday that the game was going ahead, so it was just about switching your mind on for the game and trying to prepare the best way we can.

“But yeah, it was a bit of a strange feeling. A few of the Sutton players actually said the same. There was a weird feeling around the game but we just had to get on with it.”

With seven games left to play this season, Hartlepool are three points adrift of a play-off place as they bid for a return to the Football League having been relegated from League Two in 2017.

Holohan, who was on the books at Hull City as a youngster, joined Hartlepool 12 months ago after a six-year spell in the League of Ireland, where the Kilkenny man played for Drogheda United, Cork City, Galway United and Waterford.

When asked about his concerns over the threat posed by coronavirus going into yesterday’s game, the 28-year-old said: “There’s always that chance, but I suppose there’s a chance in everyday life with the way it’s going at the moment.

“We just had to try and put that to the back of our minds. If you over-think it too much, obviously it’s really going to affect your performance. It’s a bit of a strange time for everyone in football and everyone in the world really.”

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