Clare ... 0-18 Dublin ... 2-7: Two goals and a point by Dublin in a four-minute period in the latter stages of this tie at Cusack Park yesterday rocked Clare out of a slumber, forcing them to finish strongly. A nine-point lead was whittled down to just two before the home side recorded three late scores to cement victory.

Up to then a rock-solid Clare defence had ensured that Dublin scores were at a premium, but an inexplicable loss of concentration for a short period allowed Dublin in.

Leading by 0-15 to 0-6 with 11 minutes left, Clare looked odds-on to hand out a drubbing to a rudderless Dublin side . But a combination of a never-say-die attitude on the part of Kevin Fennelly's men and some poor defending by the Clare backs suddenly raised the prospect of an upset.

Clare's first-half performance, though not of the breathtaking variety, suggested that an easy victory was on the cards. They held the Dublin forwards scoreless for the opening 30 minutes, while they accrued seven points, all from play, in that half-hour period.

Dublin eventually got on the score-board three minutes from the break when wing forward Conal Keaney pointed from a poor clearance by Clare goalkeeper David Fitzgerald.

The home side went in 0-8 to 0-2 ahead at the interval and had a quick point by full forward Tony Carmody on the resumption. Further scores from James O'Connor, Colin Lynch and David Forde reinforced their dominance. By the 57th minute they had found themselves with a commanding 0-15 to 0-6 lead.

But then for a short period the dependable Clare defence appeared to go to sleep. Dublin slipped in for two goals from Ciarán Whelan and Pat Maguire either side of a point from a free from David Curtin and suddenly the lead was reduced to just two points.

However, Clare responded to the Dublin challenge with three late points, one from Joe Considine and two by Tony Griffin, to dismiss any potential danger.

Dublin lost their momentum after the two goals and the more experienced Clare side found a higher gear in the closing stages to deny the men from the capital a chance to cause an upset.

CLARE: D Fitzgerald; C Forde, B Lohan, F Lohan; D Hoey, S McMahon, C Plunkett; C Lynch (0-2), J Considine (0-1); T Griffin (0-4), O Baker (0-2), J O'Connor (0-2, one free); N Gilligan (0-2), T Carmody (0-1), D Forde (0-3). Subs: A Markham (0-1) for O'Connor; C Clancy for Baker.

DUBLIN: B McLaughlin; P Brennan, S Perkins, K Ryan; C Meehan, L Ryan, S Martin (0-1); D Sweeney (0-3, two frees), T Moore; C Keaney (0-1), D Spain, S Hiney; G Ennis, P Maguire (1-0), D Curtin (0-2, frees). Subs: S O'Neill for Ennis; P O'Donoghue for O'Neill; C Wilson (1-0) for Moore; A Power for Hiney.

Referee: J Sexton (Limerick).