Former Town captain Gareth McAuley scored the opening goal as Northern Ireland beat Ukraine 2-0 in Lyon to claim their first ever win at a European Championships.
The 36-year-old West Brom centre-half rose high to nod home Reading midfielder Oliver Norwood's freekick in the 49th minute with Aberdeen’s Niall McGinn adding a second in injury time of a game in which the sides were briefly taken off by the referee just before the hour mark due to teeming rain and hail.
"People had written us off, nobody gave us a chance," McAuley told the BBC. "It's a very special moment.
"We weren't at it against Poland and we wanted to put it right. We let ourselves down against Poland in terms of the intensity we wanted to play at so we had a point to prove to ourselves.
"It was a wonderful team performance and we are delighted for everyone, especially the supporters.
"We have something to play for in our last game against Germany, which is what we wanted. We can take a lot of confidence into that game."
McAuley’s goal was Northern Ireland’s first at a major competition since the 1986 World Cup when ex-Town youth player Colin Clarke netted in a 2-1 defeat by Spain and the victory was their first at a tournament since they defeated the Spanish 1-0 at the 1982 World Cup.
Larne-born McAuley joined the Blues from Leicester in 2008 and made 126 starts and one sub appearance, scoring eight goals, before moving on to the Baggies in 2011.
#NIR defender Gareth McAuley is the @carlsberg Man of the Match ðŸ‘#EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/AngeAVh61V– UEFA EURO 2016 (@UEFAEURO) June 16, 2016