EURO 2016 A thumping header from defender Gareth McAuley and a stoppage-time strike from substitute Niall McGinn earned Northern Ireland a 2-0 victory over Ukraine at Euro 2016 yesterday, their first win in a major tournament for 34 years.

McAuley outjumped full back Yevhen Khacheridi to meet Oliver Norwood's free kick early in the second half, shortly before a ferocious hailstorm forced a brief interruption to the match.

McGinn added the second in the 96th minute -- the latest goal ever to be recorded in a Euro finals match in regular time - after Ukrainian keeper Andriy Pyatov could only parry a shot from Stuart Dallas.

McGinn was the ninth substitute to score in the first 17 games of a tournament where injury-time goals have been coming thick and fast.

The result leaves Ukraine still without a point in group C but means Northern Ireland now have three, and a chance of reaching the last 16, as they brace themselves for a daunting final group match against world champions Germany next Tuesday.

It was Northern Ireland’s first win at a major championship finals since they famously defeated Spain in the 1982 World Cup.

“Lots of people said we wouldn’t get a point here and we’ve now got three,” said man-of-the-match McAuley, 36, who became the second-oldest player to score in the European Championship finals after Austria's Ivica Vastic.

“We’ve got a tough game to look forward to now and we’ve got something to play for, and that’s what we wanted.”

Ukrainian midfielder Taras Stepanenko said: “It’s clear that it was a do-or-die game today and it seems clear that we’re out of the tournament. If we look at the work rate, it seems that Northern Ireland wanted to win more than we did.”

Gamble pays off

Coach Michael O’Neill was rewarded in his gamble of making five changes from the side that lost 1-0 to Poland in the opening game, including bringing in striker Conor Washington to replace Kyle Lafferty, the team’s top scorer in the qualifiers.

While Ukraine enjoyed two-thirds of the possession in the first half, Northern Ireland had more efforts on target, the best being a stinging shot from a narrow angle from captain Steven Davis.

For Ukraine, Serhiy Sydorchuk fired a shot over the bar from a failed clearance.

While winger Yevhen Konoplyanka stretched the Northern Irish defence with some tricky runs, the Ukrainians were largely restricted to long-range attempts on goal.

Yaroslav Rakitskiy had one such effort comfortably saved by keeper Michael McGovern, and Konoplyanka hit a free kick over the bar from over 30 metres.

The game opened up after McAuley’s goal soon after the break, and Sydorchuk had a header saved from a corner.

When the players returned after the game was halted for two minutes because of a brief hailstorm, Viktor Kovalenko fired a shot just wide from the edge of the penalty area, and a second from similar range minutes later.

Substitute Olexandr Zinchenko rose above the defence but headed straight at McGovern, and soon afterwards the keeper dived to his left to save a long-range left-footed effort from Andriy Yarmolenko.

Ukraine again dominated possession throughout the half, but left themselves open as they strained for the equaliser, and McGinn was there at the death to seal the victory, his goal being timed at 95 minutes 52 seconds.

- Reuters