Inside Track: Parrott wanted that hat-trick, and he got it

Troy Parrott didn’t look to be all that pleased when he was replaced in the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier last Thursday night.

He was on to a hat-trick, and he’d loved to at least been given the chance to get alongside the best-remembered to have achieved the feat in an Ireland jersey, Don Givens.

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Only one way to put this right, the Dubliner might have said to himself. Go out in the away game with Hungary in a few days’ time and put everything right.

He was given the full 90 minutes-plus this time to do it. And he did, the last of his three goals coming with the home crowd whistling for the referee to blow his whistle for the last time.

You would think that Parrott’s hat-trick couldn’t be bettered – and maybe it wasn’t. But running a close second was his side winning the game. Twice, Hungary went ahead, and twice Ireland levelled.

Then, when it seemed that was it, Ireland out of the running for a place in next year’s World Cup finals, a draw of no value to them, Troy The Boy comes up with a third score to make it 3-2.

Coming so soon after the 2-0 win over Portugal at The Aviva, supporters find themselves in dreamland, and pundits, this one included, feeling more than a little red-faced. (If we’re not, we should be.)

‘Desperate’ was just one of the words used to describe Ireland’s form in the early part of the competition, and the almost unanimous opinion was that Heimer Hallgrimsson’s side wouldn’t get to within an ass’s roar of qualifying for the finals.

Now there’s a play-off to look forward to, and if that brings the desired result, it will be off across the Atlantic for the second time in just over three decades.

Whereas all of Jack Charlton’s 1994 team’s games were played in the States, Mexico, and Canada, these countries are also on the schedule for next year.

THE CORNER THAT LED TO A GOAL

When is a corner just as valuable as a penalty? When it’s the lead-up to a goal.

That’s what happened in the Portugal match, with cries all over the place – Ronnie Whelan’s the loudest – for a spot-kick after Parrott appeared to have been keeled over the Portugal goalie.

Ref, Glenn Nyberg, was having none of it and instead awarded a corner. Josh Cullen took it, his inch-perfect delivery finding Liam Scales at the back post. The Celtic man’s flicked back to the danger zone, and Parrot was there to head to the net.

Parrott was on the mark again just before half-time, leaving a packed Aviva in a state of ecstasy – and maybe disbelief. Two up against the fifth-best team in the world – how could this be happening?

It’s for sure hundreds in the stands were there especially to see Cristiano Ronaldo trading his wares, many of them – Man U supporters in the main – having delighted in the world’s wealthiest footballer’s skills when he was at Old Trafford.

They didn’t get value for money. Outshone by the opposite No. 7, Troy Parrott, Ronaldo, now at an age when he should maybe be counting his money instead of playing football, wasn’t a factor in the first 45 minutes.

He was in the second half, but for all the wrong reasons. His swinging elbow, whether it hit the target or not, was always likely to get him a red card. It was his first red card in an International match.

He had a dozen in club football, which was, you could say, understandable since he has always come in for special attention, causing him at times to react.

We talk about parking the bus in Gaelic football, players heavily populating defence. Ireland had no choice to do the same in this game, especially when defending a lead.

Portugal were continually raiding – even when down to ten – hoping to claw back something.

There was nothing there for them. Séamus Coleman, whose nearly as old as Ronaldo, and his colleagues, were superb, only once calling on Caoimhín Kelleher to pull off one of the saves that have made him a Premier League regular with Brentford.

Séamus Coleman is maintaining a fine Donegal tradition, nurtured in the past by Packied Bonner and Shay Given, and Blackrock’s Jimmy Dunne, who came on in the last ten minutes, is following in Steve Staunton’s footsteps.