After a day spent imbibing in autumnal Belfast sunshine, Northern Ireland's fans squeezed into Windsor Park to discover if Nigel Worthington's so-far impressive side could take the next step to South Africa 2010. The answer was everything they did not want. Their dream was rendered all-but dead because of an insipid display that left the manager fuming.
"To toss it away when we're so close to something special was bitterly disappointing," Worthington said, before going down the questionable route of blaming the media - for being too kind. "The mind is a funny thing," he said. "When you hear people writing and saying so many nice things about you, you start thinking you don't have to work for a result. That is garbage, as we found out. We just weren't switched on from the first whistle.
"Will I have to lift the players for the Czech game?" he asked indignantly of the final group match, which, following Slovenia's win over Poland, has become almost meaningless unless San Marino can somehow defeat Slovenia while Worthington's team beat the Czech Republic in Prague. "Why can't they lift themselves? I've got to lift myself so they've got to do the same. We tossed it away. Not I, not me."
Missing the injured Kyle Lafferty, who scored in last weekend's draw in Poland, Worthington witnessed an opening to the match that did not augur well.
Although Vladimir Weiss's side produced clumsy, nervous football, they still appeared the more likely to score. Stephen Craigan and Jonny Evans each needed to make last-man tackles on Stanislav Sestak and Robert Vittek, respectively, before Slovakia claimed their opener 15 minutes in.
While the Irish had a speculative David Healy shot and little else to cheer the enthusiastic crowd, Vladimir Jnr, son of the manager, slipped down the right flank beyond a dawdling Evans, played in a bobbling ball, and Sestak tapped in.
On the half-hour, a clever free-kick involving Steven Davis wrong-footed the visitors' wall and allowed Healy to unload a shot that briefly worried Jan Mucha's goal. It was only after the interval that Northern Ireland improved. Damien Johnson headed over, Martin Paterson had to be repelled at close-quarters by Mucha's body, and the home side played the better football.
Yet shortly after Mucha was forced into his sharpest work - from Paterson's volley - Slovakia doubled their advantage. More weak defending allowed Filip Holosko, a substitute for Sestak, to finishing expertly. It confirmed that the 24 years that have passed since Northern Ireland last qualified for a major tournament - the 1986 World Cup - should be extended.
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