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52 ON one of Europe's grandest football stages at the Parc des Princes, the two sides produced a game that would not have won any beauty contests. It was competitive and whole- hearted, but entertainment and chances were at a premium with so much at stake. So perhaps the goal which de- cided matters - and sends Wales through to a quarter-final against either Hungary or Belgium in Lille on Friday - was appropriate as Ga- reth Bale eventually left his mark on proceedings. It came as Northern Ireland, who had fought and harried for their lives, were within 15 minutes of taking the game to extra time, but punished for switching off for a split second. In that time Aaron Ramsey found Bale in space he had craved all day, and he made the most of it with a perfect ball into the box between McAuley and goalkeeper Michael McGovern. McAuley had to intervene with the substitute Hal Robson-Kanu lurking behind, but his touch from a few yards out was a fatal one for Northern Ireland. Wales might have come into the game as favourites after winning their group and having the tour- nament's joint top scorer in Bale, while Northern Ireland qualified for the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams. But Northern Ireland can boast a FIFA world ranking of 25, one lower than Wales, and their run of only two defeats in 15 games - albeit to Germany and Poland at this tournament - demanded re- spect. The two nations met for the first time in 1921 following the parti- tion of Ireland, but none of their previous 60 games had carried the importance of this Paris fixture. Wales were seeking to emulate the achievements of the 1958 team who reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Sweden - the last time they had played at a major tournament. And Northern Ireland had his- tory on their side as it was 34 years to the day since they beat hosts Spain at the 1982 World Cup, one of the greatest results in their his- tory. Manager Michael O'Neill re- called Kyle Lafferty after the strik- er who had scored seven goals in nine qualifiers had been omitted from the final two group games. Lafferty was prominent in the early stages as Northern Ireland defended diligently and looked to spring when the opportunity arose. The ploy almost paid off in the 10th minute when Jamie Ward scampered down the right and Corry Evans worked the ball to Stuart Dallas who forced a fine save from Wayne Hennessey. Northern Ireland crowded Bale every time he had the ball, yet the Real Madrid forward still found space to deliver a cross which Ramsey poked at harmlessly. With Bale shackled - incred- ibly Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey completed more first- half passes than he did - Ramsey looked their most dangerous at- tacking option with his runs from deep. Ramsey had the ball in the net after 19 minutes when Sam Vokes climbed above Jonny Evans and headed down Neil Taylor's cross but the offside flag was correctly raised. It was a rare moment of prom- ise for a Wales attack which had finished the group stages as joint top scorers with six goals but were being frustrated at every turn by organised opponents. And Wales had another warning when Ward chanced his arm from 20 yards to produce a fingertip save from Hennessey. It was cagey and full of mistakes and probably the game Northern Ireland wanted and Wales feared with little flow and rhythm to the game. But Wales should have been ahead eight minutes after the re- start when Ramsey picked out Vokes with a diagonal pass which the striker headed carelessly wide. It was Vokes' last involvement as Robson-Kanu was sent to add extra mobility and McGovern was soon tested for the first time as he kept out Bale's powerful 25-yard free-kick. Jonathan Williams' introduc- tion also gave Wales an extra at- tacking edge as manager Chris Coleman attempted to release the grip that Northern Ireland had on the contest, even if they were cre- ating little themselves. A few crosses were swung over but they were often hit beyond the waiting Lafferty. The changes were working, Ramsey was probing, Bale even- tually found space and McAuley's touch proved the difference. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 JUNE 2016 Sport FOOTBALL - EURO 2016 Wales into last eight after heartbreaking own goal for Northern Ireland Wales made the last eight of Euro 2016 as an own goal from Northern Ireland's Gareth McAuley settled a tense match in Paris Gareth McAuley diverts Gareth Bale's cross into his own net Ticket allocation unfair, says Ireland manager IRELAND manager Martin O'Neill said on Saturday it was unfair that fewer than 5,000 tickets had been allocated to Ireland supporters for their game against France in the round of 16 of Euro 2016. Hosts France found out three days before Ireland that they would be playing in Lyon on Sunday for a place in the quar- ter-finals. "Ticket allocation is some- thing I do have a gripe about", O'Neill told a news confer- ence at the brand new Parc OL stadium, which has around 59,000 seats. "It's totally disproportion- ate. For a stadium this size and this brilliance, for us or any team playing in the round of 16 to be allocated under 5,000 tickets is pretty unfair, really," he added. "It's not just for us. For any side, I think there should have been a certain allocation left aside for the side who would make it here. France have had that opportunity, having ad- vanced three days before us, and so it's going to be severely one-sided in that aspect." The Ireland manager did not complain, however, about the fact that his team had less time than France to prepare for Sunday's tie. "It was always going to be the case, when we kicked off last in the competition, that we would face this problem at some stage", he said. "It's upon us now, we just have to deal with it.