A Troy Parrott 92nd winner gave John O’Shea a dramatic first win as Ireland interim Manager.
Despite a lacklustre performance from the boys in green, Troy Parrott gave Irish fans a feeling that they have craved for a long time, a match winning goal. Ireland’s first win over a team ranked higher since defeating Scotland 3-0 in July 2022.
Ireland started very poorly but to be fair to the Irish players, so did the Hungarians who despite having a lot of hype going into the game as a top nation, going 14 games unbeaten, they looked a shadow of themselves.
The first 34 minutes was a complete waste for Ireland as they couldn’t get anything going and were extremely wasteful on the ball. When the lineups were released an hour before kickoff there was unfortunately one question consistently raised by Irish fans. Why was Shane Duffy starting over Jake O’Brien?
Unfortunately for Duffy that question was emphasised almost immediately into the game with the Derry native looking completely off the pace and making one feel that his best days were behind him. But it must be said that he wasn’t the only one. Every player was slow to give the ball into the attacking players feet and when they tried to complete a pass, it was never a successful one.
In the 35th minute, it seemed things were changing. Will Smallbone and Finn Azaz linked up well to bring the ball up the pitch with Smallbone eventually playing a one-two with Matt Doherty and whipping in an absolute peach of a cross onto Adam Idah’s head who after scoring the winner in the Scottish Cup final was never going to miss, giving Ireland a somewhat undeserved lead.
Unfortunately for Ireland, things weren’t that simple as 5 minutes later the Hungarians levelled the scoreline. A free kick was taken quickly to danger man Domink Szoboszlai who picked up the ball attempting to whip in a cross and although Finn Azaz did well to get a deflection on the ball, it caused a high, looping ball into the box which Shane Duffy and Matt Doherty did a poor job of dealing of. Centre Back Adam Lang took full advantage smashing it in the back of Caoimhin Kelleher’s net.
It would finish 1-1 at half time.
If you didn’t watch the first 46 minutes of the second half, I would love to say you missed a cracker but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Both Celtic’s Liam Scales and Jake O’Brien came on at half time with the Lyon man making his international debut. Change’s John O’Shea must take credit for with Doherty and Duffy struggling in the first half, O’Shea showed real balls by replacing them with less experienced players who made a real impression when they came on.
Despite both the defensive changes making an impact in making the defence more compact, they couldn’t affect things at the other end. Ireland struggled massively going forward with Seamus Coleman having Ireland’s only shot between the 45th and 90th minute which in reality was only a half chance. Kelleher also showed his class in the game making some excellent stops.
All the glum faces in attendance were given the biggest opportunity to celebrate since the victory over Scotland in 2022 when substitute Troy Parrott repeated his heroics of his last minute against Lithuania in March 2022. The Excelsior loanee picked up the ball on the halfway line skipping past the challenge of Callum Styles to leave himself and Sammie Szmodics two on one with Peter Gulacsi, but Parrott in the form he’s been in at club level was never passing the ball to Szmodics. Funnily the Belvedere schoolboy scuffed his effort against Gulacsi but as the saying goes – when your luck is in, your luck is in. Parrott’s shot hit off the keeper and looped over him into the back of the net.
2-1 in the 92nd minute, as easy as that. Game, set and match to Ireland. Hungary’s 14 game unbeaten ended in the dying moments.
