Troy Parrott: 'The best night I've ever had in my whole life'

Ireland's Troy Parrott celebrates scoring his sides first goal. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Goalscoring hero Troy Parrott was overwhelmed with joy at his coming of age night in an Ireland jersey, and vowed Ireland can follow up Portugal heroics in Budapest on Sunday.

"I think it's probably the best night I've ever had in my whole life. I've no words to describe it," Parrott told RTÉ Sport.

Hungary's win over Armenia meant Ireland were on the brink of elimination, making unexpected victory in Dublin even sweeter. 

"We all knew how important this game was for us, especially given the other result tonight. I've no words, I'm over the moon. I’m buzzing. 

"I felt great, I felt ready. It’s such a relief and an overwhelming feeling to see all the hard work paying off. We’ll be ready for Budapest."

The first goal, a neat header after Liam Scales kept a corner alive, was something Ireland had practised, Parrott said. 

"It's something we worked on and Scalesy put the ball where it needed to go."

Proud manager Heimir Hallgrímsson was thrilled with his forward's overall performance, especially when Ireland attacked on the counter. 

"It was good. We knew there would be space. And Troy is clever useding his spaces. Chio (Ogbene) as well. I think we should have scored more than two goals. 

"Just proud of the performance of the guys. It was hard work, discipline, good team work. Kept them at bay. Defensively we were really solid. Big improvement in posession too. It was a perfect example of how you play a team with this kind of individual quality."

Cristiano Ronaldo became embroiled in an argument with the Ireland boss after his red card, having earlier in the week suggested Hallgrímsson was trying to influence the referee.

"He lost his focus a little bit. Maybe it was the fans as well. He was frustrated and reacted in a way he knows he shouldn't.

"He said that to me walking away, that it was a clever thing to do, but it was his decision to attack our player.

"I cannot stop praising the supporters here. They have a lot of say in this win as well. They gave us energy in crucial times."

Of Sunday's task in Budapest, and Ireland's ability to recover, he added: "It is in our hands to go to the next round and with a performance like this we have a chance.

In the last camp we made a win in the second match. We rotated players and we did that again today. They (the staff) will work on whatever it needs and hopefully everyone will be ready."