Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty paid tribute to the team 's effort after he starred in a 2-1 win over Finland . Lafferty 's first half double was enough to win the game for Michael O'Neill 's side and keep them only a point behind European Championship qualifying group F leaders Romania , who beat the Faroe Islands 1-0 . They had to endure a nervous finish after Berat Sadik 's late goal but held on for victory . Kyle Lafferty praised his team-mates 'attitude , heart and performance ' excellent after their win over Finland . Lafferty told Sky Sports 5 : 'It was obviously nervous but we deserved to win the game . 'It was excellent today , the attitude , the heart and the team performance . ' The Turkish-based frontman 's first goal was an excellent volley on the turn before he nodded in the second , taking him second among his country 's all-time leading scorers ahead of Colin Clarke and Billy Gillespie . The Northern Irish front man scores the opening goal during the first half of the Euro 2016 qualifier . And he said : 'Obviously it 's all going right for me at the minute and I 'm enjoying it . 'The first goal , I decided to hit it first time and luckily it went in . 'But it 's down to the team , everyone was excellent today . Although I 'm getting the goals and the rewards you have to look at the team performance . ' Defender Jonny Evans , currently serving a six-match ban for Manchester United for spitting , was delighted to be able to contribute for his team . Lafferty of Northern Ireland scores with a header to make the score 2-0 at Windsor Park . 'It was great to be out there and especially to get the win , ' he said . 'We ground out the result and Kyle scored two great goals . 'It puts us in a really good position going into June , we play Romania here and it 'll be a top-of-the-group clash . ' O'Neill saluted Lafferty , who now has five goals in five games in this qualifying campaign . Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill praised his striker after his two goals in the crucial clash . He said : `` Confidence is obviously a big issue , he had a bit of a difficult year but he 's put that behind him , he 's playing with a smile on his face and he recognises how important he is to this team . `` He scored two fantastic goals , we emphasise getting the ball in the box with quality and we saw the benefits of that . '' Four wins from five games give Northern Ireland an excellent chance of at least finishing in the top three in the group if not the two automatic qualifying places . O'Neill said : `` We 're eight ( points ) ahead of Finland , eight at least ahead of Greece ( who play Hungary later on Sunday ) , we 've still got a cushion over Hungary and we have a game in June where a win will take us top of the group . `` We 're looking forward to a good week or 10 days with the players and hopefully a similar performance . ( Romania ) are an excellent team and they top the group so we know we 'll have to be at our very , very best to beat them . ''
mark Lafferty rejoined his Northern midfield team - mates after the match . The striker scored a double in the first half to put his side in contention . Finland scored a late consolation to give it a nervy final few minutes .