JOHN O’SHEA was beaming after Troy Parrott scored a late winner.
The interim boss saw his chances of landing the job on a permanent basis strengthened as they condemned Euro 2024-bound Hungary to a first defeat in 15 games.
And O’Shea said: “The feeling of winning a match as manager of my country is right up there in the moments I’ve had in my career.
“For a young lad born in Waterford, it was incredible.”
Asked if he had supplied evidence that he could be the full-time boss, O’Shea said: “It’s evidence that we’re winning games again.
“That’s hugely important. We want to qualify for tournaments and winning games especially at home is the foundation for that.
“We were up against a team which was unbeaten for a long time but we found a way. Yes, we could have done things better but we caused them problems and at different stages we could have caused them more problems.
“We played better against Belgium and Switzerland, we were better with ball, but here we showed an application and a hunger to stay in there.
“If we had been more streetwise we would have created lot more chances, because we were in really good positions, but the detail of passing was not to the level it was against Belgium and Switzerland. That’s something to work on.
“At the same time Caoimhín Kelleher didn’t have too much to do. He might argue with that but he had just one good save at his level. Even the free-kick which he held which moved a bit showed his calmness.
“But Hungary will cause teams at the Euros plenty of problems.
“The most important thing is we won. What I said to them beforehand was that their mindset should be to go and beat Hungary whatever way they could.”
He paid tribute to Parrott who had scored a hat-trick on Sunday which was not enough to save his loan club Excelsior from the drop.
O’Shea said: “He showed great desire and application to come into the squad and get his recovery.
“He’s in great form, it’s frustrating because you’re trying to save a team and you don’t make it but your goals are crucial from your point of view because they’re so important for his career.
“I was very calm because the vein of form he’s in and obviously that was the plan, we were hoping to get Troy in those positions if we could.
“Sammie Szmodics was there too but he might have been offside because he was too eager to get the ball but thankfully it went in.”