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Northern Ireland remained top of World Cup qualifying Group 3 after a fine 1-0 win over Slovenia at Windsor Park.

Nigel Worthington's men had to weather a first half storm from the visitors, but in the end Warren Feeney's deft 73rd minute strike was enough for a hard fought victory and their second home win in less than a week.

The home side began brightly, roared on by a vociferous Windsor Park crowd, but they were unable to create any real chances in the opening 45 minutes.

Once the visitors had found their feet on an extremely uneven playing surface they began to trouble Northern Ireland with their quick passing and movement.

With only nine minutes on the clock the first chance of the match fell to Miso Brecko, who capitalised on a neat flicked through ball from Milivoje Novakovic to test Maik Taylor.

The FC Cologne man's shot was turned over by the veteran keeper, but the pressure kept coming from the visitors, who were being prompted in midfield to good effect by skipper Robert Koren.

Slovenia looked dangerous from set pieces and on the break and Novakovic himself had their next opportunity with only minutes to go in the first half.

The big striker pounced on a poor ball from Aaron Hughes and advanced on goal before being brought down just outside the area.

Novakovic took the kick himself and it took a deflection off the top of the wall and Taylor was relieved to see it go behind for a corner.

It was a totally different story in the second half though, as Northern Ireland came out all guns blazing while Slovenia faded.

Damien Johnson should have opened the scoring after 57 minutes when he found himself unmarked in the area, however his header lacked direction and flew over the bar.

Ten minutes later, Slovenia had a rare second half opportunity and Koren's inspired strike from distance thudded against Taylor's crossbar.

As the game started to become scrappy, Sammy Clingan jinked down the right and his cross was met by Feeney at the near post and his precise flicked header was too good for Samir Handanovic in the Slovenia goal.

Northern Ireland could have added a second when David Healey's 77th minute strike was saved and Slovenia might have equalised with five minutes left, but Novakovic's shot was wild when composure was required.

The home side held on and now find themselves in with a great chance of qualifying for South Africa 2010, thanks to that man Feeney.

Slovakia upset Czech Republic 2-1 away day to increase their chances of reaching the World Cup finals for the first time since the breakup of former Czechoslovakia in 1993.

The Slovaks, who beat their neighbours for the first time since 1997, have 12 points from five matches, one point less than leaders Northern Ireland.

Slovakia opened the scoring in the 24th minute when striker Filip Holosko made a square pass in front of goal to midfielder Stanislav Sestak, who beat keeper Petr Cech with a close low shot.

The Czechs struck back with a stroke of luck six minutes later when Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel headed an own goal from a shot by Czech defender Marek Jankulovski following a corner.

The Czechs put their rivals under pressure mid-way through the second half with midfielder David Jarolim hitting the bar in the 68th minute.

But they paid for their missed chances when the visitors scored again in a counter-attack seven minutes from time with striker Erik Jendrisek beating Cech after the keeper failed to hold his first shot.

Ebi Smolarek hit four goals to inspire Poland to a 10-0 drubbing of San Marino in a one-sided match.

Poland, beaten 3-2 in Northern Ireland on Saturday, cruised into a 4-0 halftime lead against Group 3 bottom team San Marino thanks to two goals from Rafal Boguski, one by Smolarek and another from Robert Lewandowski.

The visiting defence was penetrated six more times in the second period through Smolarek (three), Ireneusz Jelen, Mariusz Lewandowski and Marek Saganowski.

Poland have 10 points from six games while San Marino have lost all their matches.

Sean Calvert / Eurosport / Reuters