Czech Republic took a step closer to the qualification for Euro 2008 finals next year with a polished performance in the 1-0 victory Ireland in their Group D match on Wednesday.

Marek Jankulovski scored the only goal of the match early in the first half and Ireland's efforts to come back into the game in the second half was hit by the sending off of Stephen Hunt leaving the Czechs with an easy final minutes of the match as they hung on to their one goal lead.

Czech started the game three points ahead of their opponents, sitting comfortably in the second position in the table. The hosts made their intentions clear pretty early in the game when Libor Sionko saw his shot deflect just wide of the post.

A goal for Czech was not long in coming and it finally arrived in the 15th minute when Jankulovski played a neat one-two with Plasil, sprinting past Richard Dunne before smashing home a low shot past Shay Given.

Ireland's first chance of the match came a minute before half time when Dunne latched on to a mistake by Sionko to play in Doyle and though the Reading striker managed to beat Petr Cech, his shot smashed against the post.

Czech came out attacking in the second half intent on killing off the game and though Milan Baros and Tomas Rosicky had good chances to score, they were unable to hit the target. Ireland's hopes of a late come back was squashed in the 61st minute when Hunt was sent off after a tackle Jan Polak.

Though Doyle and Dunne had great chances to get the equalizer, Czech managed to hold on to their lead and end the match by opening a six point gap over Ireland. The win means Czech need just 4 points from the remaining three matches to go through to the Euro 2008 finals next year.

Watch Euro 2008 qualifiers live on free-football.tv.