IRELAND'S tennis team cleared the first hurdle of a strenuous six-match programme in the Davis Cup (Euro African Division 111) at the Nairobi Club in Kenya yesterday.

But after beating Djibouti, their first-day opponents instead of original opposition from Moldova, the Irish captain Peter Wright warned: "Djibouti are probably the weakest team in the entire draw. It proved the fastest match of the day. They were not much of a challenge for us."

Scott Barron took only 48 minutes to dispose off Abdoulnasser Abdoulkader 6-1, 6-0. Owen Casey dropped only two games to Nasr Chamsan in 51 minutes. The doubles was even easier with team veteran Eoin Collins and John Doran (17) ousting Abdoulkader and, Aden Ali 6-0, 6-0 in 46 minutes.

Wright and his players made use of the unexpected extra time on their hands to run the rule over opposition for later in the week. "We scouted around and watched Estonia, Moldova and Cyprus whom we meet on Wednesday.

"We match up pretty well with all of these teams but at the same time I am keeping the boys on edge. We are going to have to work hard to beat them. There is no challenge here that would be as tough as playing Britain in Dublin in the European Nations." Ireland have a rest-day today.