Troy Parrott's double was not enough to earn the Republic of Ireland a second straight win as Austria fought back to draw a Uefa Nations League game twice briefly interrupted by protests in the first half in Dublin.

Parrott opened the scoring with a superb solo effort before tennis balls were thrown on to the pitch in the 19th minute by those protesting the Republic of Ireland's games against Israel.

With protests having taken place outside the Aviva Stadium before the game, referee Allard Lindhout briefly paused the action while stewards cleared the tennis balls - which featured the Palestine flag and 'Stop the Game' text - off the pitch.

Then, in the 35th minute, a man carrying a Palestine flag entered the field of play but was quickly tackled by security.

Following the two short breaks in play, Parrott doubled the home side's lead from the penalty spot following a foul on Ryan Manning.

While Parrott's double set the Republic of Ireland on course for back-to-back wins after Sunday's 3-0 win over Israel in Hungary, Austria's substitutes inspired a second-half comeback.

Alexander Prass came off the bench to pull a goal back following a mistake from Republic of Ireland defender Liam Kitching before fellow substitute Michael Gregoritsch curled a free-kick past Caoimhin Kelleher to earn Austria a point that keeps Ralf Rangnick's team top of Group B3.

After the scrutiny and controversy that surrounded last weekend's first game against Israel, the Republic of Ireland returned to Dublin for their first competitive outing on home soil since beating Portugal 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier 11 months ago.

Parrott scored both goals in that game and again had his name up in the Aviva lights as he bamboozled the Austrian defence to open the scoring in superb style after 12 minutes.

Having picked the ball up just outside the centre circle, Parrott poked the ball through Philipp Lienhart's legs and skipped past David Affengruber before coolly slotting a right-footed effort under goalkeeper Florian Wiegele.

Like in the Israel game, the Republic of Ireland looked sharp going forward with Hallgrimsson opting for an attack-minded line-up that included the returning Finn Azaz in a deeper midfield role behind Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan.

Before the game, Hallgrimsson said the past week has been "difficult" for Azaz, who has family connections to Israel and was an unused substitute in Sunday's game in Debrecen.

Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, meanwhile, returned to the bench after making himself unavailable for both Israel matches.

Azaz was involved in the build-up to the hosts' second goal on Thursday, his pass to Ryan Manning setting up the wing-back's cross that caused havoc in the Austrian defence before Manning was fouled by Nicolas Seiwald.

After Parrott confidently drove the ball home from 12 yards to double the lead, the hosts looked on course for another impressive victory but Austria had other ideas.

While the visitors were without David Alaba, Marcel Sabitzer and Christoph Baumgartner, they still threatened and showed flashes in the first half before Rangnick introduced attacker Gregoritsch and defenders Konrad Laimer and Maximilian Wober at the break.

Those changes helped Austria - who recorded 3-1 wins over Israel and Kosovo in their first two games - gain control before Prass, who replaced Romano Schmid, slammed a high shot home after Kitching was caught out.

While the offside flag was raised, the goal was awarded following a video assistant referee (VAR) check and Austria only needed to wait six minutes before Gregoritsch beat the wrong-footed Kelleher with a free-kick to level.

Both sides had chances for a late winner. Republic of Ireland captain Dara O'Shea forced a fine save from Wiegele before Gregoritsch and Prass both fired over the Irish crossbar with separate opportunities.

Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said: "Obviously you're disappointed to lose a two-goal advantage but on the other hand you're really happy how we played the first half.

"Coming into the Aviva, feeling the support of the fans gave everyone a boost before the game. We were better than them in the first half, they were better than us in the second.

"It is a tough opponent, physical, hard-working, hard-pressing, we knew it would cost energy and coming into this fixture with all that's been going on before this game, we knew that we would need to do substitutions.

"So mixed emotions - happy with the goals we scored, unhappy with the goals we conceded."

Austria head coach Ralf Rangnick said: "In the first 20 minutes we lacked a bit of energy. Ireland came at us, we lacked control but our changes in the second half helped us get a grip on the game.

"Ireland were very strong. It was similar to the way they played against Israel.

"I think especially with this being their first game played in their own stadium, played in front of fans, they were determined to really put on a good face and we saw that in the first half.

"I had to talk to my players about that. That's why we made changes at half-time. We came out much better after those changes."

The Republic of Ireland wrap up the window by travelling to Serbia for their second fixture against Israel on Sunday (19:45 BST), while Austria take on Kosovo in Pristina (17:00).