David Sneyd reports from Aviva Stadium

THIS WAS THRILLING.

This was chaotic.

This was gripping from the first minute to the 96th.

This was everything that Heimir Hallgrímsson wouldn’t have wanted it to be.

If the Republic of Ireland are to qualify for the 2026 World Cup then it will not be the way Hallgrímsson wants, or demands.

He’s only been Ireland manager for 14 months but he really should know this is kind of the way things go.

Well, maybe not quite as maddening and yet somehow joyful as this.

For the first time since Spain won 3-1 here in a World Cup qualifier in October 1993 Ireland conceded two goals in the opening 15 minutes of a home game.

Now, that campaign did end with qualification for USA the following year so if we are clinging to omens of any kind that is certainly one.

It’s just hard to really believe this squad are capable of repeating such a feat, even if the way they dragged themselves back into contention through Evan Ferguson four minutes after the re-start, and then found a 93rd-minute leveller from Adam Idah that showed there was merit in all of the pre-match words about resilience and character.

Rolland Sallai was shown a straight red card for scraping his studs down the back of Dara O’Shea’s Achilles three minutes after Ireland pulled that first goal back.

Lansdowne Road roared to life from the self-inflicted stupor of that first yet it wasn’t until Ryan Manning crossed from the left to put it on Idah’s head in injury time that a point was secured.

Balls had been arrowed into the box before that. There were fruitless penalty appeals and chances missed.

But Ireland eventually found their way through and the pain of the concession was evident on the Hungarians when the full-time whistle blew.

Captain Dominik Szoboszlai is a Liverpool superstar and had been strutting around D4 with all the swagger and self-confidence of a schools-rugby star in these parts.

But at full time he dropped to his knees, then fell backwards and remained flat in the D on his penalty area. He sat up for a moment, rubbed his hands through his luscious black hair that only became sweaty during Ireland’s second-half aerial bombardment.

He knew this was a major missed opportunity for Hungary and it was only when his former Liverpool teammate Caoimhin Kelleher approached that he offered his two hands and was helped to his feet.

He hugged it out with the Ireland goalkeeper and then went their separate ways. The hope – and it is still hope rather than expectation despite the grit and determination to recover the two-goal deficit – is that when they meet again on the last day of his campaign in Budapest in November is that Szoboszlai is in the depths of even more World Cup despair.

Hungary manager Marco Rossi said in his pre-match press conference that this game would be decided by “an episode.”

He wasn’t quite right as the points were shared, but this just so happened to be a 90-minute mini-series that was part tragedy, drama and thriller.

As ever Ireland remain their own kind of mystery.

In this episode, the first half was also a repeat of a familiar story. A repeat of accumulative errors and a nervousness that was ruthlessly punished.

It came as a jarring, gut-punch after a week-long sermon from the manager, coaches and players about how things were going to be different.

There was an early surprise before kick-off, after the anthems, when a live rendition of The Wild Rover maintained the atmosphere and added to the sense of occasion.

The problem was that within one minute and 56 seconds that occasion felt like a funeral as Ireland fell behind.

By the 15th minute, when the second goal was guided beyond Kelleher, it felt like post-mortems were already beginning of this wretched night.

But let’s start with the first goal, as by the looks of things a fair few straggles among the 50,137 that packed out Aviva Stadium missed it, either by walking up to their seats or not even making it up from the concourses.

It was an episode filled with small details, none of which Ireland were on top of.

Firstly, Sammie Szmodics could have stopped the initial cross into the box from the left had he got a couple of inches closer.

There was still time to deal with it.

Matt Doherty’s header clear could have been higher and wider from just in front of the six-yard box. Again, in isolation, not the worst thing especially as Finn Azaz did get the first touch with his in-step only to see Callum Styles nip it off him with both Josh Cullen and Jason Knight flat-footed.

The Hungarian midfielder scooped a quick, hopeful ball back into the box which caught Dara O’Shea on the hop as he pushed out along with Collins, only for Doherty to be still a couple of yards behind.

Barnabas Vargas was the most alert, swivelling sharply and finishing with his left.

All of that pre-match talk about Ireland being on the cusp of something special, of finding confidence and belief seemed shallow, and the depths to which the night threatened to sink became far more concerning where Hungary went 2-0 up on 15 minutes.

Szoboszlai was being booed and jeered as he strolled over to take the corner. If they’d known what was coming they wouldn’t have minded if the Liverpool man took longer.

It was pantomime stuff, but it wasn’t calls of ‘he’s behind you’ that were needed for the Ireland defence. Sallai was right in front of Collins and Doherty, unmarked, from the moment Szoboszlai stepped up to deliver until it landed on his head for a glancing effort into the far corner.

Yes, the way in which they responded after the half-time break was admirable and evidence of the pre-game talk about being resilient. Securing the point in the way they did before they fly to Armenia in the morning should also inject energy and purpose into that performance.

But who knows? We’re still figuring out this Ireland side and if this was anything to go by at least it will keep us entertained.

The concern is, for the Hallgrimsson doctrine to thrive nights like this shouldn’t happen, or at least not in the manner how it happened. Not when it’s 10-week qualifying campaign.

This contest could have felt like it went on for that long had Hungary been as assured and dominant after the break.

Just before that interval, as the Aviva still sat mostly silent and dumbstruck, Hallgrimsson had been barking orders from the touchline before returning to his seat on the bench and jotting a few bits down in his green notebook.

“Get it to Evan,” may have been the gist, as just a couple minutes after the re-start his direct running won the free-kick that led to his goal which was the catalyst for an episode everyone will remember.