Troy Parrott shows he still has the makings of a star

Parrott's career trajectory has not taken the course we had expected, but he still has time on his hands

29 March 2022; Troy Parrott of Republic of Ireland, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring their side's winning goal during the international friendly match between Republic of Ireland and Lithuania at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

Memories of Troy Parrott’s two goals in Kalmar in 2019 couldn’t help but bubble back to the surface early yesterday evening as another Republic of Ireland U21 team went about claiming a crucial two-goal win in Sweden.

Stephen Kenny was still in charge of the kids back in September of 2019 when they won 3-1 in Scandinavia. Five of that first XI – Caoimhin Kelleher, Dara O’Shea, Jayson Molumby, Aaron Connolly and Parrott – have since made their senior debuts but the leading man didn’t appear on screen until the 52nd-minute that night.

Parrott was still only 17 when he did so much to win that Euro 2021 qualifying tie but it was hard not to feel then that he had arrived by the time he beat the keeper with an audacious lob for the second strike. Mick McCarthy had already named him in the senior squad and a debut followed soon after with a half-hour against New Zealand.

Watching Parrott then was like waiting for a star to explode.

His September had kicked off with the only goal of the game as the U21s saw off Armenia 1-0 in Tallaght and the sense of a career about to slip into fifth gear was only mirrored at club level where Mauricio Pochettino, his boss at Tottenham Hotspur, was buying in to the buzz as much as anybody.

That same month brought the Dubliner his Spurs debut away to Colchester United in a Carabao Cup tie that they would lose on penalties. He couldn’t convert from a few half-chances but a flag had been planted firmly in the ground. “For sure he is going to be a very important player for Tottenham in the future,” said Pochettino.

Parrott’s bearings have been less certain in the years since. Another three first-team appearances with Spurs followed that season, adding up to a handful of minutes. A third loan move has taken him to MK Dons and, while he had eleven caps up to now, three of the last four had come in garbage time.

A recent resurgence at club level, and some fulsome praise from Ireland assistant Keith Andrews on Monday, had led to a theory that Parrott was in line for a first start since an anonymous display at home to Azerbaijan last autumn, but Kenny’s words inevitably carry more weight.

The senior manager was just as effusive about Will Keane ten days ago and it was the 29-year old Wigan Athletic man, making his full debut here against Lithuania, whose name was on everyone’s lips when the list dropped before kick-off. Keane did fine, making runs and holding balls up, but having little opportunity for glory.

That would be Parrott’s.

The former Belvedere boy had looked promising and sharp soon after his arrival just past the hour mark. There were some nice touches as he stepped into the centre-forward role vacated by Keane and an excellent run in from the left wing and a pass that released James McClean to set up Chiedozie Ogbene.

The only pity was that Parrott’s ball had found McClean too late. Offside. The third of Ireland’s four goals disallowed and all for the very same offence. Never mind. If at first you don’t succeed and all that… Ireland, and Parrott, kept on keeping on and the Dubliner had a cracking strike tipped over the bar as the clock began to wind down.

It’s not that he needed a goal all that badly. Youth remains on his side, after all, and he had two senior goals in the bag already from last summer’s friendly in Andorra, but he had spoken last week of the need to add more goals and assists to his locker and he was still sniffing around for one more than the other in the 96th minute.

The odds didn’t favour him as the ball dropped to him a few yards outside the Lithuanian penalty area. It sprang up like a beachball caught on a strong summer’s breeze but Parrott tamed it with a couple of deadening touches and wound his body around from an unfavourable angle lest he send the shot soaring high and wide.

And he was always going to shoot.

Say it like that and it seems like he had already more than earned his pot on goal but there were a sea of yellow shirts standing between him and the net at the Havelock End. It took luck to get through them all. Luck and the technique and the power he exerted through his leg to give Dziugas Bartkus little to no chance of stopping it.

His reaction said everything. A turn, a smile, and then a guttural roar as he swept aside the initial attempt to engulf him in a bear hug and the footballer’s signature move that is the knee slide in the direction of the stands. Parrott isn’t where we thought he would be by now in September of 2019 but this is proof that he can still get there.