The best moments in football are so blissfully straightforward as to appear in slow motion. Windsor Park roared in a style now customary under Michael O’Neill with a late winner which owed everything to simplicity. Stuart Dallas found Paddy McNair on the right and the subsequent cross was tapped home from all of four yards by Josh Magennis, who had also started the incisive move.

Make that six points out of six for O’Neill from their first two qualifiers. They deserved this success, with the score a misrepresentation of a game Northern Ireland dominated.

Such early reward is probably essential given Germany and the Netherlands are in this section. Nonetheless, in continuing the brilliantly uplifting storyline created by O’Neill, Northern Ireland should cherish continuing success while it lasts. They chortle in the face of nations with considerably greater football resource than their own.

“We are top of the group until June and that is nice,” said O’Neill. “It’s also significant because that’s how you get momentum. These wins set us up for June and the games that lie ahead.

“I was delighted with the performance. We tried everything in the second half, the attitude and application were brilliant. It was a great winning goal.”

O’Neill had expressed dissatisfaction with elements of their 2-0 win over Estonia on Thursday but such discomfort was not sufficient for the manager to change his starting XI. As they were launching a successful opening to their campaign, Belarus were tumbling to a 4-0 defeat by the Netherlands. O’Neill expected sterner resistance than Estonia had offered at Windsor Park. After such a humbling experience in Rotterdam, presumably Belarus were just of a mind to provide any resistance at all.

The hosts spent the opening 20 minutes virtually camped in the Belarus half without creating a meaningful opportunity. McNair then stung the palms of Andrey Klimovich, following a wonderful turn from the Middlesbrough man which baffled Stanislav Dragun. Klimovich was called into action again as he turned a Kyle Lafferty long-range effort behind, triggering the corner which gave Northern Ireland the lead.

In what proved the latest effective set play from this team, a cross from Niall McGinn was smartly flicked on at the near post by Steven Davis. Completely baffled by this ploy, Belarus left Jonny Evans in blissful isolation. The Leicester defender duly planted a header into the back of the visitors’ net.

That they could not retain their advantage for more than three minutes against a side which had offered nothing by way of menace owed plenty to fortune. Igor Stasevich’s shot from outside the penalty area would have spelt little trouble for Bailey Peacock-Farrell before a wicked deflection off Dallas. The ball duly looped over the despairing goalkeeper, giving Belarus parity they did not deserve.

George Saville should have put Northern Ireland back in front before the interval but fluffed his lines from close range. Lafferty subsequently failed to connect with an excellent Jordan Jones cross. Frustratingly for O’Neill, his team reached half-time all square in a match they had dominated.

Lafferty came within an offside flag of re-establishing the Northern Ireland lead before a McNair drive was bravely blocked inside the penalty area. In the kind of vibrant atmosphere that has become common during O’Neill’s reinvigoration of his national team Belarus were clinging on for dear life at the hour mark. If there was hope for them, it lay in potential Northern Irish defensive weakness with so many players committed forward. Peacock-Farrell had been a bystander, the heavily deflected equaliser aside.

O’Neill’s first roll of the dice saw Magennis thrown on in place of the fading McGinn. With 20 minutes to play, Northern Ireland were not exactly reaching desperation mode but Belarus’s ability to stifle any sense of attacking impetus was improving.

Lafferty’s final act was to miss the ball completely from a Jamal Lewis cross. With Klimovich punching fresh air, the slightest of touches would have reinstated Northern Ireland’s lead. It felt as if it could, just possibly, be one of those nights. How wrong such a sense was to prove.

The key, wildly celebrated moment arrived as the clock reached the 87th minute. Magennis, caught in the off-field horror show that is Bolton Wanderers, enjoyed one of the finest moments of his career after Dallas and McNair showed such composure in the lead-up. Belarus rallied briefly – Peacock-Farrell saved impressively from Pavel Nekhaychik – but unworthy salvation would not arrive.

O’Neill later labelled Magennis as “invaluable” to his squad. It almost felt like understatement in the context of events here.