STADE DE LYON

would condemn them to an early exit. Michael O’neill made five changes to the team that lost to the Poles and also shifted Evans from centre-back to left-back to shadow Ukrainian danger man Andriy Yarmolenko.

The former national boss also pulled off a masterstroke in ensuring his squad was based near the venue of the key second game.

“It was very clever of Michael,” said Evans. “He ensued our training base was only a 40-minute drive away so it felt like a home game.

“We were so relaxed on the way to the stadium. Big Josh Magennis was playing music at the back of the coach and there were no nerves, just laughter and joking. It helped us express ourselves.”

Evans was in close proximity to Mcauley’s headed opener – “we worked a lot on set pieces before the tournament and Big G did his thing to perfection”.

But he admits he didn’t relax even when Mcginn swept home the second with virtually the last kick of the ball in front of 18,000 Northern Ireland fans. “It’s mad but I don’t think you ever feel that way in football,” he said.

“I remember telling Josh to ‘keep it in the corner’ but when Niall scored I kind of knew we were in control.

“Overall, it was a crazy game with hailstones disrupting the game but it’s a very special memory.”

An added bonus for Evans was the fact wife Helen and eldest daughter Lottie, who had just turned two, were both in attendance at Stade de Lyon.

“It’s funny,” he said. “Helen was showing me photographs the other day and I remember we were unsure whether to take Lottie because she was quite young at the time.

“Looking back, we are so glad she was there because it was a once in a lifetime experience. It’s a memory that will stay with us forever.”

DEFENDER Jonny Evans still harbours a degree of regret at the nature of Northern Ireland’s exit at the hands of Wales at the Euro 2016 finals. Michael O’neill’s men enjoyed a memorable odyssey in France but their journey would end in the last-16 thanks to a Gareth Mcauley own goal in Paris. It was Gareth Bale and company who would progress to the quarter-finals where they shocked Belgium before losing to eventual champions Portugal in the last-four. O’neill later admitted he was haunted by a feeling of what might have been in Paris and that his players had at least “one more game in us”. “As players we shared that view - we were really disappointed,” said Evans. “It was a scrappy game against Wales and it was strange IRISH EYES ARE WELLING Evans can’t hold back tears in Lyon as he shares win with daughter Lottie because a lot of the players knew each other. “We ended up losing 1-0 but we always felt there was another game in us which would have taken us to the quarter-finals. After that, who knows what might have happened? “At the same time we were really proud of how well we had done and how well we had competed at Euro 2016.” Evans freely admits the historic magnitude of playing in Northern Ireland’s first major tournament since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico didn’t hit him until he returned home. He added: “Looking back, it was very special. Seeing people from your country having so much joy in another country and the way they represented themselves - and us - really added to it.”