Ukraine 0 Northern Ireland 2: McAuley and McGinn seal the win for O'Neill's men

ALL hail Northern Ireland and Gareth McAuley.

By Paul Brown

GOAL: Gareth McAuley

The West Bromwich Albion defender scored his nation’s first tournament goal in 30 years.

And even a brief stoppage in play caused by an almighty downpour with hailstones the size of pebbles could not stop Michael O’Neill’s boys from singing in the rain.

Czech referee Pavel Kralovec took both teams off with Northern Ireland’s first ever win at the Euros still in the balance.

But after the restart they held on under siege from Ukraine, with supersub Niall McGinn sealing their first tournament victory since 1982 deep into stoppage time.

Now they sit level on points with world champions Germany and Poland and the two-goal margin could be enough to reach the last 16 with four third-place teams progressing to the next round.

O’Neill had gambled by relegating Kyle Lafferty, his record scorer in qualifying, to the bench as one of five changes from the team which lost to the Poles.

But it paid off in style as Northern Ireland celebrated a victory that brought memories of Gerry Armstrong’s famous winner against Spain 34 years ago.

There were other emotions too, with Northern Ireland fans unfurling a banner before the match in memory of supporter Darren Rodgers, who accidentally died in Nice after the Poland game.

They also took part in a minute’s applause in the 24th minute as a mark of respect for the 24-year-old from Ballymena, and the players wore black armbands.

But by the end there was only joy as O’Neill’s heroes celebrated a hard-fought win which leaves Ukraine on the brink of elimination.

They had already lost their opening game to Germany and must now beat Poland in their final game and hope for the best.

There was more history made when Corry Evans and West Brom defender Jonny became the first brothers ever to play for Northern Ireland in a major tournament.

But while they put in a much improved performance from the defeat against Poland, they had to do it that hard way.

Northern Ireland had to soak up plenty of pressure in the first half but Craig Cathcart went close with a header from a corner before McAuley struck.

He escaped the attentions of his marker at the far post and made no mistake to head home Oliver Norwood’s free kick.

Ukraine were almost level seconds later when Yevhen Seleznyov headed goalwards at the other end only for Michael McGovern to make the save.

Andriy Pyatov then did well to hold on in the pouring rain as a shot from Norwood came at him through a crowd of bodies.

But both sets of players were left complaining when referee Kralovec suspended the match, taking the teams off because off because the rain had become hail.

Viktor Kovalenko blazed over and Olexandr Zinchenko had a header saved once play resumed, and McGovern made a big save from Andriy Yarmolenko in the 89th minute.

By then O’Neill’s players were visibly tiring after putting their bodies on the line for the cause.

But there was still time for Stuart Dallas to fire in a sizzling shot from 25 yards that Pyatov could only parry.

And McGinn rammed in the rebound which finally sealed an historic win for Northern Ireland.

Ukraine (4-2-3-1): Pyatov; Fedetskiy, Khacheridi, Raditskiy, Shevchuk; Sydorchuk (Garmash 76), Stepanenko; Yarmolenko, Kovalenko, Konoplyanka; Seleznyov.

Northern Ireland (4-3-3): McGovern; Hughes, Cathcart, McAuley, Evans J; Evans C (McNair 90), Davis, Norwood; Ward (McGinn 70), Dallas, Washington (Magennis 84).

Referee: Pavel Kralovec (Czech Republic)