Wales 3 San Marino 0: Giggs opens up San Marino to ease the pain of Croke Park

Wales recorded the biggest competitive victory of the second John Toshack era last night, scoring early through Ryan Giggs and Gareth Bale before a second-half penalty by the outstanding Jason Koumas completed San Marino's 39th defeat in as many European Championship qualifying matches. The Wales manager still clings to hopes of reaching Euro 2008, yet their improved display must be viewed in the context of horribly limited opponents.

San Marino lie 197th in Fifa's world rankings, just ahead of the Vatican and Rockall, and draw their players from a population scarcely bigger than Rhyl's 26,000. Their goalkeeper, Aldo Simoncini, had set an unwanted record earlier in Group D when he was beaten 13 times by Germany. Here, however, Toshack hailed the 19-year-old as the man of the match, pointing to four fine saves as well as the chances Wales missed. In contrast, Danny Coyne did not field a single attempt on goal.

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Toshack was satisfied with the points, while admitting they did not compensate for Wales' dire performance in Saturday's 1-0 defeat by the Republic of Ireland at Croke Park. If they were to beat the Czech Republic in Cardiff in June, he believed Wales could still go through. "Anything other than a win and it'll be very difficult," he said. "But win it and we're certainly in the mix for the second half of the campaign."

The return of Koumas after suspension was influential in Wales' bright start. They went ahead with 138 seconds played, the West Bromwich playmaker threading an astute through-ball to Giggs, whose low shot produced his 12th goal in 62 caps.

Giggs, spotting Simoncini off his line, executed a 40-yard lob which the back-pedalling keeper parried. Craig Bellamy followed up, but Simoncini saved at point-blank range as the pair collided.

Both players required treatment, and Wales added insult to injury for Simoncini with a goal from the opposite end of the age spectrum after 18 minutes. The 17-year-old Bale, 25 yards out, curled the ball in after another pass by Koumas, who later fired against the bar.

Most teams would venture forward to try to claw back a goal. San Marino's heavy losses have so scarred their psyche that they persisted in massing behind the ball and left Andy Selva, one of their two full-time professionals, isolated up front.

It was hard to feel sympathy for them, even when David Cotterill won a dubious penalty on the hour. Simone Bacciocchi's foul took place outside the 18-yard box, prompting San Marino to claim the substitute had dived. Simoncini parried Koumas' spot-kick, only for the ball to trickle over the line. The crew-cut custodian kicked a goalpost in frustration.

Wales (4-3-1-2): Coyne (Burnley); Ricketts (Hull), Evans (Wrexham), J Collins (West Ham), Bale (Southampton); S Davies (Fulham), Koumas (West Brom), Fletcher (Crystal Palace); Giggs (Manchester United); Bellamy (Liverpool), Easter (Wycombe). Substitutes used: Cotterill (Wigan) for Easter h-t; Nyatanga (Derby) for Evans 63, Parry (Cardiff) for Giggs 74; Booked: Koumas

San Marino (5-4-1): Simoncini (San Marino Calcio); C Valentini (Sporting Novalfeltria), Albani (Saludecio), Muccioli (Savarna), Bacciocchi (Sporting Novafeltria), Andreini (Tre Fiori); Negri (SS Folgore), Domeniconi (Misano), Marani (AC Dozzese), Gasperoni (Cervia); Selva (Saasuolo). Substitutes used: Bugli (Secchiano) for Domeniconi 67, Nanni (Tre Penne) for Negri 80

Booked: Bacciocchi, Muccioli

Referee: A Tshagharyan (Armenia)

Man of the match: Jason Koumas.