Given the honour of captaining the national team in his home county of Waterford, the Number 8 hit a hat-trick under the lights of Waterford’s RSC as he led Tom Mohan’s Under-19 side to a 5-0 win over Cyprus.
Molumby would go on to end the 2017/18 season as the U19s’ top scorer and in all has found the net seven times for his country.
Now into his second camp with the Irish senior team, he followed up his debut against Finland at Aviva Stadium last month with a Man of the Match performance in Dublin against Wales on Sunday.
The midfielder has now followed in the footsteps of senior teammates Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah of rising through the Irish underage ranks then representing the Boys in Green under Stephen Kenny at both U21s and senior level.
Speaking to FAI TV after the 0-0 draw Jasyon said: “I’m grateful for the gaffer putting faith in me. I thought the boys showed character and on another day we would have got the three points. I want to push people for places and I know the manager really well and I know what he expects from me and from the team. I’m just so proud to play for my country.”
Since his first appearance in green in a 2-1 defeat for the Under-15s against the Netherlands in 2013, Jayson has stepped out for Ireland underage teams 45 times. His debut in the Dutch town of Doorwerth came while he was playing for Villa FC in his native Waterford before moving onto Railway Athletic in his hometown of Cappoquin.
His first goal for his country came two years later and ironically against the same nation he earned his first senior cap and Wednesday’s opponents – Finland . Jayson’s strike against the Fins in September 2015 was the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory in Finland during the Under-17’s European Championship qualifiers.
That season would be a big year for Jayson who moved onto Brighton & Hove Albion, a club he would share with Irish teammates Connolly, Shane Duffy and Danny Mandroiu.
In August 2017, Jayson made his full senior debut for the Seagulls in a 1-0 English League Cup win over Barnet. It was performance that drew praise from all quarters especially from the man who selected him, Ireland legend Chris Hughton who singled out the 18-year-old for praise.
However, it’s been the last 12 months where Ireland’s newest international has made strides in his career. A loan move to Championship side Millwall saw him make 38 appearances for The Lions as they pushed for a play-off place. In the end they missed out by just two points.
His efforts in south London made him a fan-favourite and this was summed up when a video of his pressing game went viral. In the video Jayson chases down Brentford goalkeeper David Raya, who under sustained pressure can only clear to Irish international Aidan O’Brien who made no mistake in finishing. His aggression that led to goal was described as ‘manic’. The game finished 1-0 to The Lions.
Now back with Brighton, Jayson is part of the first team squad with Head Coach Graham Potter pleased with the 21-year-old’s development last season.
Speaking before the Slovakia game Jayson said: “ He [Graham Potter] definitely understands how big it is to play for your country. It’s a big deal for Brighton also because you’re representing them. Myself and Aaron [Connolly] have come up through the academy from the age of 15,16 and to get international recognition at senior level is huge achievement for ourselves and the club – I think they’re proud of us and raring to let us go and express ourselves.
“It means everything for me to play for my country and it is something you couldn’t even dream about when you were younger to be honest. For Stephen to put trust in me, especially in the last game by giving me my debut, and to get the call up again is massive. I want to go on and have a really good career with Ireland and go and play a lot of games.”