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Peter Halmosi excelled for the Pilgrims, but his time with the Tigers is best forgotten

Peter Halmosi only played England for two and a half years of his career, but during that time he experienced the highs and the lows of life as a footballer.

The Hungarian was a revelation with Plymouth Argyle after initially joining on loan in January 2007, with his wizardry on the wings helping the Pilgrims finish in the top half of the Championship for the first time in 20 years.

These were halcyon days at Home Park, with a trio of magnificent Magyars stealing the show in Devon, with Halmosi joining compatriots Akos Buzsaky and Krisztian Timar on the south coast.

As brilliant as his time with the Pilgrims was, he could never recreate that once a £2 million move to Hull City was secured 18 months after his arrival into England, with the Tigers likely to shudder at the thought of his time on Humberside.

Peter Halmosi steals the show for Plymouth Argyle after Debrecen move

With Buzsaky and Timar already swapping goulash, langos and Ferenc Puskas for pasties, cider and Jack Leslie, the pathway was already created for Halmosi to join his fellow countrymen in Devon from Debrecen midway through the 06/07 season.

Almost immediately, the Hungarian international was making waves in his new environment, with his trickery and vision on the flanks adding an extra dimension to the Pilgrims’ attack.

While never blessed with out and out pace, Halmosi’s strength and quick feet could often leave a defender for dead, while his unerring accuracy with his trusted left peg was a mesmerising weapon to have at his disposal.

It took the wide man three months to get his first goal in England, but once he did the floodgates began to open, with his first goal in green coming against Leeds United at Elland Road, before another strike just two days later in a 3-0 victory against Leicester City at Home Park.

Five days later and his third goal of the week was in the bag, as the Greens took all three points away from Kenilworth Road after beating Luton Town 2-1, before another goal against his future employers Hull City on the final day of the season.

After such a strong end to the season, it was no surprise that there was plenty of clamour from Argyle fans to seal a permanent transfer for the magic man, and the club were only too happy to seal the deal.

With the Greens forking out a then club-record £400,000 for the Hungarian, there would have been plenty of reason to expect pressure upon his shoulder ahead of the following campaign, but if there was any, he didn’t let it show, as he continued where he left off.

Peter Halmosi seals Ian Holloway, Leicester City fate after manager’s Plymouth Argyle departure

With Ian Holloway at the wheel, the Pilgrims were riding the crest of a wave in the second tier, with plenty of the Championship’s top sides coming a cropper against the Devon outfit.

The winger contributed towards victories against Queens Park Rangers, Crystal Palace and Sheffield United before the turn of the calendar year, although things weren’t entirely straight forward for the Home Park side during that time.

Having been riding high with the energy of Holloway [pictured] in the dugout, the former QPR manager jumped ship in November to join Leicester City, in a move that still wrangles plenty of the Argyle faithful.

That bad feeling was still raw when the Pilgrims made the journey to play the Foxes in February 2008, with the former Argyle boss being stung by the player that he had brought to the club just a matter of months earlier.

In typical Halmosi fashion, he rifled a finish past Ben Alnwick in the hosts’ goal just after the half-hour mark, and condemned City to another defeat, en route to their eventual relegation into the third tier.

While City were stuttering, Argyle were elated, and Halmosi continued to go from strength to strength, with Southampton and Burnley both swept aside thanks to the magical Magyar, with the latter match seeing him net a brace.

Peter Halmosi unable to recreate Plymouth Argyle form for Hull City

Having notched 12 times in 61 league games for the Greens, it was no surprise that there was interest in his services in the summer of 2008, and having scored twice in his four matches against Hull City during that time, the Tigers were keen to make him theirs ahead of their impending Premier League campaign.

In a then club-record deal of £2 million, the Humberside outfit must have though they were getting a world-beater for a bargain price, but after the highs of Home Park, came the mire of the MKM Stadium, as things quickly took a turn for the worse.

There would have been plenty of expectation from Tigers fans for the Hungarian to show what he had time and time again when playing against City for Argyle, but the step-up in division seemed to be a stretch too far.

Having featured in early victories against Fulham and Newcastle United, before a 2-2 draw with Everton, Halmosi failed to start another match for Hull until the end of December, with Phil Brown naming him in his starting lineup just four times in the top tier.

The trickery, the strength, the confidence, all of it seemed to have sapped from Halmosi’s body during his time on Humberside, with his only goal coming in a 2-1 victory over Sheffield United in the FA Cup in February 2009.

Just over a year after making the high-profile move to the Premier League outfit, Halmosi was out the door, with loan spells back in his homeland with Haladas, before eventually cutting all ties with the Tigers in January 2011.

It’s a transfer Hull will want to forget in a hurry, but for Argyle, Halmosi will always be remembered for the 18 dazzling months he had in a green shirt, and especially for that strike to sink Holloway and his Leicester side, as the Greens got one over on their former boss.