EVAN FERGUSON is getting used to landmark moments of late.
He was just 14 when he made his first senior appearance for Bohemians in a friendly against a Frank Lampard-managed Chelsea.
He then joined Brighton in January of last year, and the striker made his senior debut in a 2-0 EFL Cup win away to Cardiff the following August.
A first Premier League appearance came off the bench back in February amid a 3-0 defeat to Burnley.
And last month, in just his fifth senior appearance for the club, the youngster scored his first Brighton goal during a 3-0 League Cup win over Forest Green.
On Friday night, another task on his to-do list was ticked off — Ferguson scored his first goal for Ireland at U21 level.
It came amid high pressure at Tallaght Stadium, with the hosts 1-0 down and badly needing an equaliser to take something to Israel for Tuesday’s crucial second leg of their Euro qualification playoff. Fortunately, on 65 minutes, the youngster rose highest and emphatically headed home Tyreik Wright’s delivery.
“I just try my best every game and get as many goals as I can,” he told reporters. “This is the first goal and hopefully, there will be more to come.
“We had a few corners, so I just said I would try my best to get my head on this one. They were coming and coming, and I just wanted to get my head on one.”
It was a somewhat frustrating evening for Jim Crawford’s side. They created enough chances to win the game against an Israel outfit who were reduced to 10 men in the dying minutes, but in the end, they had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
“I feel like it was a good game. I feel like we were the better team at times. Coming in at half-time, it is obviously not good conceding, but we took positives from it. We knew that if we kept on the same path we could push on and get the winner.”
Perhaps because of his age and reputation, Ferguson appeared to be the subject of some rough treatment by his opponents, particularly in the early stages of the match, but the forward played it down afterwards.
“I feel like that’s how it goes sometimes. They try to test out some players and see what reaction they can get from that. But we just kept going and we got the goal.
“It was just the normal stuff that you’d expect — nothing too bad.
“It’s international football. They like to get physical and into you and see what you’re like in the first 15-20 minutes. As the game went on, I felt like we had more joy compared to them so it was good.”
Crawford paired Ferguson up front with Aaron Connolly, who was making his first Ireland U21 appearance in over three years after eight caps with the senior side.
Somewhat surprisingly given that they are both Brighton players, they had never played together, not even in U23s games.
“It was good,” the Meath native said of their strike partnership. “I feel like we have got the relationship from training in the past, so it is good to play with him.
“I would have been in training with him before so I know the areas he likes to be in and the areas he likes to go into.”
Friday’s result leaves the tie all to play for ahead of next week’s second leg. Ferguson has shown in his career thus far that he does not get fazed easily, and Tuesday’s encounter is unlikely to be any exception, despite what is likely to be a hostile environment at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv.
“I feel we have got a lot of positives from that game [on Friday] and we obviously know what they are like now, so I don’t think we have anything to fear.”
Victory would see Ireland qualify for an U21 finals for the first time in their history while playing at a major international tournament is also something Ferguson has yet to experience at any level.
“It would mean a lot for all of us. I think everyone is here for the same reason, to get into those finals. It would be an unbelievable achievement if we did.”
