John O'Shea lauds players who 'found a way to win' against Hungary

John O'Shea hailed his side’s character and determination as they "found a way to win" against Hungary at the Aviva Stadium.

An Adam Idah first-half header and an injury-time individual Troy Parrott effort saw Ireland end Hungary’s impressive 14-game unbeaten run to secure the 2-1 victory at the Lansdowne Road venue.

Already in O’Shea’s brief time in charge as interim manager, he has seen his side play better yet draw against Belgium, and he has seen them play better and lose to Switzerland.

But tonight’s international friendly against the Euros-bound Hungarians was not about the performance, but all about the result.

O’Shea has been emphasising the importance of getting Ireland back winning games following Stephen Kenny’s three-year tenure of poor results and missed opportunities.

And again before the game, he spoke about winning matches, which was imperative to build momentum, but also to give him a better shout of being appointed to the permanent position following this summer’s international window.

Ireland huffed and puffed quite a bit throughout the game against the slick and stylish Hungarian side, and yet they were first on the scoresheet, when Idah crashed home that header in the 36th minute, and they proved the hungrier in the closing stages as Parrott popped up to hit the injury-time winner.

"I said to the players beforehand that the mindset was to beat Hungary whatever way we could," said O’Shea, speaking at the post-match press conference.

"They did that. They showed great desire. We found a way. To see the team dig deep and fight, to find a way to win."

O’Shea was first to admit that the performance was not up to the standard that he was expecting, which he put down to end of season fatigue and the fact that many of