Melia and McManus thrill Crawford in win over Hungary

Sometimes exercises of questionable value, the friendly fixture between the Republic of Ireland Under-21s and their Hungarian counterparts on Monday proved anything but, with emerging stars Mason Melia and Conor McManus shining bright on their debuts and leaving manager Jim Crawford captivated.

In a cliched game of two halves, Ireland's finesse was blunted by the physical force of their opponents in the first half at the Pinatar Arena in Murcia, with the sides level at 1-1 at half-time.

However, a second-half shift to a more direct approach worked wonders for Crawford's charges, who ran out comfortable 3-1 winners in the end.

Melia gave Ireland a first-half lead from the penalty spot, dethroning Troy Parrott as the country's youngest goalscorer in the grade, and belying his lack of experience in the side over the 90 minutes.

A less-heralded prospect – and in the context of Irish football and Melia, every player is – Brentford midfielder McManus popped up with a headed second-half brace to seal the victory.

The two players' illuminating performances are likely to inform Crawford's plans for the 2027 European Under-21 Championship in a major way, with Crawford saying after full-time: "Conor had a fantastic game, he really did. I thought he was excellent.

"I thought young Mason (above) was outstanding for us. OK, he was the lone striker in the first half and then we brought on Mark [O'Mahony] to give him a little bit of support in the second half, but I was delighted with Mason.

"His overall game was excellent and it was a pleasing result.

"He's a wonderful boy and he's got real talent, but what we like most about him is his willingness to learn and he's a really mature type of player that's going to be a massive asset for the Under-21s."

Returning to the former Cabinteely FC and Bray Wanderers man McManus, who is catching the eye of head coach Thomas Frank and setpiece mastermind Keith Andrews at the Bees, Crawford added: "We knew a lot about him. He'd been injured for a bit, so he missed out on camps before because of injuries, so to get him in to meet him, he's a really good pro.

"I know Thomas Frank and Keith Andrews speak very highly of him and he certainly didn't disappoint since the minute he came through the door on the Tuesday for this camp. He was excellent."

History-maker Melia was on a high after the final whistle and admitted: "I'm buzzing. It's been a long time since I've been involved in the camp.

"I was out injured for the last camp, which was unfortunate, but I'm buzzing to have made my debut and then to have scored just tops it off."

Melia will make the move from St Patrick's Athletic to Tottenham next January, with the London club where now senior international Parrott spent many of his formative years, before flying the nest and finding a happier home in the Eredivisie with AZ.

On lowering Parrott's Under-21 goalscoring record, Melia said: "I knew I'd be up there, but I didn't think I'd be the youngest.

"It's nice to have that to your name."

While Melia and McManus (above) were both appearing for the Boys in Green (OK, white) in the age bracket for the first time, the latter hadn't even featured in a previous squad, adding more merit to his stellar showing.

"The first half an hour, it took me a little bit to settle in," McManus conceded. "I think I was a bit all over the place in the head!

"I think I was just trying to get into the pace of the game.

"As the game went on, we changed tactics at half-time and it suited me a bit more. I grew into it, as cliched as it sounds.

"To get the two goals was class, I haven't scored for a while, so that feeling was really nice.

"It's a surreal feeling, I can't really put it into words. My mum, my dad and my girlfriend were in the stands, so it was unbelievable.

"It took me a couple of days to settle into the group, coming into a group of lads who have such high quality and who already have that basis of a relationship with each other.

"But the lads are really welcoming and really nice and all the coaching staff are top, so it made it easy to settle in and play my football."

Crawford, Melia, McManus and the Under-21s kick off their European qualifying campaign with an away trip to Moldova on 4 September.

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