Republic of Ireland 2
Hungary 1
PARROTT’S DON’T ALWAYS repeat themselves.
In September 2022 Troy ran clear at Hampden Park and, agonising over a one-on-one, missed a glorious and ultimately costly chance to win a game Ireland then lost. Tonight he ran clear of the Hungary defence in stoppage time, but this time he scored to secure Ireland’s first win over a side ranked above them since Scotland lost at the Aviva two years ago.
The finish was a little too close to the Hungarian goalkeeper but no matter: it’s a sweet moment for Parrott, who has scored seven goals in his final three games for Excelsior Rotterdam and shown admirable persistence in the process.
This also marks Euros-bound Hungary’s first defeat since the same September night in 2022, and meant a game that threatened to follow the template of zestless pre-tournament/end-of-season friendlies erupted in exuberance.
Ireland took a first-half lead through Adam Idah which they lost a few minutes later to Adam Lang, but they overcame Hungary’s buoyant start to the second-half to finish strongly and nick a win which was barely-deserved but gratefully-grabbed. For a group of players who have too often found a way to lose games, this is a long-awaited balm.
The limit of John O’Shea’s starting experimentation was a full debut for Finn Azaz, who flitted gracefully and impotently around the game’s edges: he was withdrawn after an hour for Parrott.
Otherwise, fans of the fresh and new will have been disappointed to see Shane Duffy’s name on the teamsheet, ahead of Jake O’Brien, whose season with Lyon ended with a goal and a narrow defeat in a French Cup final that also functioned as Kylian Mbappe’s farewell to Paris Saint-Germain.
But John O’Shea has not been using this interim stint as an opportunity to experiment: any kind of result can add sheen to the CV he will put in front of either the FAI or his next employer. You can hardly blame O’Shea for looking out for number one, but it means this window – along with the double-header in March – have been utterly wasted; stuck as we are in this meagre, barren limbo, trying to get A Result to stop the winless rot like it is some article of faith. But as regards any proper preparation for the Nations League tie in September, the FAI have written it all off. Come September we will be reduced to actual prayer. The FAI are guilty of an outrageous waste of players’ opportunity and everyone else’s time.
Duffy clanked with rust from the off, setting the bum note after a couple of minutes when he dived in late on Andras Schafer. Hungary might have been ahead already at that stage, as Loic Nego got himself in a tangle in trying to finish from close-range in front of Caoimhín Kelleher.
Ireland played Hungary away from home before they went off to Euro 2020+1, and it was in that game Stephen Kenny partly rehabilitated Duffy, who was picked despite his dreadful stint at Celtic and promptly delivered the man of the match award. There was no such redemption tonight, as he chugged painfully off the pace: running back to collect a ball in behind in such a wide arc that it allowed Barnabas Varga pounce and square the ball for Nega, who slammed a glorious chance into the stand.
Duffy was withdrawn at half-time for O’Brien.
Nega was in position to miss these sitters due to Hungary’s funky set-up: they played a back three out of possession but Nega, the right wing-back, drifted into the centre of the pitch in possession to overload that area. It caused Ireland problems and deprived them of the ball for vast swathes of a game and meant Hungary dictated the pace of the game.
Ireland then scored when Hungary allowed the game slump to a standstill. Adam Idah was in the right position to nod in Will Smallbone’s delicious cross from the right-hand side, though Ireland profited from some non-defending from Hungary; the kind of lackadaisical effort ill-befitting a side that hasn’t lost any game since a 2-0 defeat to Italy in September 2022.
And so they snapped back to attention and levelled four minutes later. The goal was painfully sloppy from an Irish point of view. After Dominik Szobozslai’s long-range effort looped off Finn Azaz, Willi Orban was given way too much time to nod the ball goalwards where Adam Lang – the only Hungary player onside – side-footed it in.
Hungary attacked the second-half with renewed vigour but Caoimhín Kelleher sloughed off Ireland’s years-long penchant for conceding long-range goals, acrobatically tipping Roland Sallai’s curler around the post and then dealing with Andras Schaffer’s subsequent piledriver.
Ireland continued to lack rhythm in attack, with several promising situations foundering on a misunderstanding between Idah and those around him: too often he went in behind in behind and the ball went to feet. Their attempts to play out from the back, meanwhile, were largely woeful, with all of O’Shea, O’Brien and Liam Scales guilty of heavy touches and sloppy giveaways.
Ireland finally stirred something of note 10 minutes from time, with Seamus Coleman’s shot deflecting behind for Ireland’s first corner…that did admittedly end with a Hungary counter-attack that ended with another long-ranger with which Kelleher dealt comfortably.
Still, Ireland finished the game in the ascendancy, with Coleman and Szoboszlai – neighbours back on Merseyside – jawing at each other throughout. Coleman, switched from centre-back to wing-back for the second half, provided much of Ireland’s attacking thrust, snapping a volley wide in the dying seconds.
But Parrott had the last word: he pounced on a Hungary error in the Irish half to streak clear in stoppage time, at which that stoppage time then became his enemy: he had so much of it to think of what he could do but also what he might not do. But though his side-footed shot was close to goalkeeper Denes Dibusz, it flicked off the goalkeeper’s outstretched leg and looped into the net.
Coleman ran to O’Shea and his coaching staff to celebrate.
The Hungary players dutifully and morosely applauded their travelling fans, but they will soon be reunited in Germany. Ireland, by contrast, remain uninvited to life’s feast. So best to enjoy these savoury scraps whenever we are fed them.
Republic of Ireland: Caoimhín Kelleher; Matt Doherty (Liam Scales, HT); Seamus Coleman (captain), Shane Duffy (Jake O’Brien, HT), Dara O’Shea; Robbie Brady (Callum O’Dowda, 60′); Josh Cullen (Jason Knight, 78′), Will Smallbone; Sammie Szmodics, Finn Azaz (Troy Parrott, 60′); Adam Idah (Michael Obafemi, 70′)
Hungary: Peter Gulasci (Denes Dibusz, HT); Loic Nego (Endre Botka, HT); Adam Lang (Botond Balogh, 73′), Willi Orban, Marton Dardai; Milos Kerkez (Zsolt Nagy, 70′); Adam Naguy, Andras Schafer (Callum Styles, 70′); Roland Sallai, Dominik Szoboszlai; Barnabas Varga (Laszlo Kleinheisler, 60′)
Referee: Luis Godinho (POR)
Attendance: 29,424
