Ciaran Byrd @ciaranbyrd - Twitter Profile

Hungary 2-3 Ireland. Troy Parrott stood in front of the camera with tears rolling down his face, a player overwhelmed by the scale of what he had just done. His hat-trick had dragged Ireland to a 3–2 victory in Hungary, sealing a place in the World Cup playoff in the most dramatic circumstances imaginable. His voice cracked, but the conviction in his words did not. “My heart… I’m lost for words,” he said, wiping his face as the adrenaline finally gave way. “I mean, really emotional. Tears of joy.” Parrott’s penalty, the opener on a night that swung wildly between despair and delirium, looked torturous in its build-up. The referee appeared to take an eternity to signal, forcing the striker to hover over the ball in silence. “I was waiting for him to blow the whistle, but he never did,” Parrott said. “I looked at him and he just told me I could take it. I’d rather have that pressure on me. Whatever happens, happens — but I want it in my hands.” It was the second and third goals that turned the night into folklore. The second, a striker’s finish born from instinct and repetition. The third, deep into stoppage time with Ireland out of time and out of breath, was pure fantasy. “This is why we love football,” Parrott said. “Because things like this can happen. I love where I’m from, so this means the world to me and my family.” He sprinted to the stands at full-time, collapsing into the embrace of his family after a week in which his mother had found herself unexpectedly in the public eye. “Yeah, she’s proud of me,” he said quietly. “Really proud.” Ireland had trailed twice and were out of the World Cup with five minutes to play. They had been outplayed for long spells and forced to cling on. Yet they kept going. They refused to accept the script. And when the final chance fell, it fell to the one player who wanted the responsibility more than anyone else. “You can’t dream about that last moment,” Parrott said. “You really can’t. Five minutes were up and then suddenly the ball’s there. It’s honestly a fairy tale. I have no words.” He did, however, have a message for those who had dismissed Ireland before a ball was kicked in the group stage. “Everyone wrote us off,” he said. “But there’s always a chance. You take your chance. To go down twice and still win… it’s beautiful.” As he walked away, still wiping away tears, there was a sense that Ireland had witnessed more than a match-winning performance. They had watched a career turn. A talent once weighed down by expectation was now carrying a nation toward a World Cup playoff. On a night of chaos, courage and catharsis, Troy Parrott stood tallest. He may not be the only one crying in Ireland today, but he was certainly the reason why. #hunire #WorldCupQualifiers #COYBIG

Sportsweek's tweet photo. Hungary 2-3 Ireland.

Troy Parrott stood in front of the camera with tears rolling down his face, a player overwhelmed by the scale of what he had just done. His hat-trick had dragged Ireland to a 3–2 victory in Hungary, sealing a place in the World Cup playoff in the most dramatic circumstances imaginable. His voice cracked, but the conviction in his words did not.

“My heart… I’m lost for words,” he said, wiping his face as the adrenaline finally gave way. “I mean, really emotional. Tears of joy.”

Parrott’s penalty, the opener on a night that swung wildly between despair and delirium, looked torturous in its build-up. The referee appeared to take an eternity to signal, forcing the striker to hover over the ball in silence.

“I was waiting for him to blow the whistle, but he never did,” Parrott said. “I looked at him and he just told me I could take it. I’d rather have that pressure on me. Whatever happens, happens — but I want it in my hands.”

It was the second and third goals that turned the night into folklore. The second, a striker’s finish born from instinct and repetition. The third, deep into stoppage time with Ireland out of time and out of breath, was pure fantasy.

“This is why we love football,” Parrott said. “Because things like this can happen. I love where I’m from, so this means the world to me and my family.”

He sprinted to the stands at full-time, collapsing into the embrace of his family after a week in which his mother had found herself unexpectedly in the public eye. “Yeah, she’s proud of me,” he said quietly. “Really proud.”

Ireland had trailed twice and were out of the World Cup with five minutes to play. They had been outplayed for long spells and forced to cling on. Yet they kept going. They refused to accept the script. And when the final chance fell, it fell to the one player who wanted the responsibility more than anyone else.

“You can’t dream about that last moment,” Parrott said. “You really can’t. Five minutes were up and then suddenly the ball’s there. It’s honestly a fairy tale. I have no words.”

He did, however, have a message for those who had dismissed Ireland before a ball was kicked in the group stage.

“Everyone wrote us off,” he said. “But there’s always a chance. You take your chance. To go down twice and still win… it’s beautiful.”

As he walked away, still wiping away tears, there was a sense that Ireland had witnessed more than a match-winning performance. They had watched a career turn. A talent once weighed down by expectation was now carrying a nation toward a World Cup playoff.

On a night of chaos, courage and catharsis, Troy Parrott stood tallest. He may not be the only one crying in Ireland today, but he was certainly the reason why.

#hunire #WorldCupQualifiers #COYBIG

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Ciaran Byrd @ciaranbyrd

8 months ago

https://t.co/nBnYF2qpyl

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Ciaran Byrd @ciaranbyrd

8 months ago

https://t.co/VNh5bJQmlw

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Ciaran Byrd @ciaranbyrd

9 months ago

https://t.co/3ncZJkD8dX

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Ciaran Byrd @ciaranbyrd

9 months ago

https://t.co/WD2j0GfaVv

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Ciaran Byrd @ciaranbyrd

10 months ago

@moefitzpatrick Long gone are the days when we used 2 be delighted for our younger teams getting to play in Breffni for all the finals, it’s a disgrace how it has worked out, the amount of fees each club pays for registration of teams etc and get nothing out of it. county board hav alot 2 answer

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Ciaran Byrd @ciaranbyrd

10 months ago

@LfcShaunjudge He’s a smug bastard, never got out of the way when we were attacking every time

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Ciaran Byrd @ciaranbyrd

10 months ago

https://t.co/eCd6syO9oi

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Ciaran Byrd

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