Ronan Curtis’ heart beat quicker than ever last night as he made his Republic of Ireland senior debut.
Curtis, who has been in flying form with six goals since moving to League One side Portsmouth from Derry City in the summer, was given his senior international bow in the 0-0 draw with Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
The St Johnston man was introduced as a half-time replacement for Callum O’Dowda.
“My heart was beating so fast,” Curtis said.
“It was just an amazing feeling. I’ve been working hard in training. As soon as the manager gave me the nod tonight, I was just buzzing.
“It was great was to make my debut.
“I’ve been working hard for the last few months and this was my first time being called up, so I’m grateful to get my debut.
“I wasn’t given a clue beforehand but I finally got the nod tonight.”
Curtis was twice previously called into Martin O’Neill’s squad, but last night his chance came.
He said: “The boss just said, ‘Go and enjoy it, this is your chance’ and he said afterwards, ‘Congratulations, you did well, you put yourself about’.
“We got a decent enough result, we didn’t concede, we’ve come out of the game with a 0-0 draw.
“But it was good from the last three games when we conceded two-three goals so hopefully we can build on that for the Denmark game and get something out of that.”
Curtis hopes to make his competitive debut in Monday’s Nations League game against Denmark in Aarhus.
Ireland have scored just two goals in five games and the in-form Curtis could well be the man O’Neill turns to.
Curtis said: “I’m a hard-working player, once I get the ball I try and make things happen.
“Once we get one goal, confidence will start to come back into the side.
“Once we get that first win, the confidence will come and Aarhus would be ideal for it to happen”.
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