Hat-trick hero Troy Parrott secures play-off place for Ireland | OneFootball

Troy Parrott scored a hat-trick and helped the Republic of Ireland stage an incredible comeback including a last-second winner in Hungary.

The visitors got off to a bad start in Budapest with the home side scoring inside the first five minutes when Dominik Szoboszlai's delivery after a short-corner routine was diverted in by Dániel Lukács who managed to stay fractionally onside.

Parity was restored in the 15th minute from the penalty spot. VAR intervened to show that Chiedozie Ogbene was felled, leading to Troy Parrott, fresh off his brace against Portugal, to convert from the penalty spot.

The Irish defending was poor for Barnabás Varga's wonder strike that made it 2-1 before half-time. The forward was allowed to chest the ball before rifling in a half volley into the top corner, far beyond the reach of Caoimhin Kelleher.

With the Irish trailing at the break they knew exactly what they had to do in the second half to ensure a second-placed finish in the group and it would take a heroic effort to fight back.

There were chances from both teams including Ireland having the ball in the back of the net before a narrow offside.

However, the equalising goal came in the 80th minute. Again it was Parrott who picked up a delightful chipped ball from Finn Azaz. There was still plenty for the AZ man to do but he managed to keep the ball under control before finishing past Dénes Dibusz.

It seemed like a draw was going to be the final result until that man Parrott popped up at the perfect time. The game was seconds over the allotted five minutes of added time when he got onto the end of Liam Scales and finished to send his side to the play-offs in March.