Slovakia move closer to maiden World Cup berth

Slovakia moved to the brink of their first World Cup berth as an independent nation on Wednesday as they consolidated top spot in UEFA Group 3 with a 2-0 victory away to Northern Ireland.

The Irish started the stronger of the two sides, but Slovakia took the lead against the run of play on 15 minutes as Stanislav Sestak scored from close range after a great cross in from Vladimir Weiss beat the home defense.

The home side fought hard to get an equalizer, but the Slovakians were not to be denied and substitute Filip Holosko put the match beyond doubt in the 67th minute when he got on the end of a long ball before slotting home.

Slovakia last appeared in a major tournament as part of Czechoslovakia at Euro 1992, but they have not qualified since becoming an independent nation in 1993.

Northern Ireland fell to third in the group on goal difference after Slovenia pounded Poland 3-0 to move into the precious second position.

Zlatko Dedic opened the scoring for the Slovenians after just 13 minutes, but the true blow came on the stroke of half-time as Köln striker Milivoje Novakovic doubled the lead just before the break.

The domination was complete for Slovenia in the 62nd minute as Valter Birsa bagged the third goal to send Slovenia rocketing up the standings.

The Czech Republic now sit two points behind Slovenia and Northern Ireland after they completed a 7-0 demolition of San Marino thanks to four goals from Milan Baros.