On the basis of what John O'Keeffe said to the members of his team in the dressing-room after their hard fought victory over Down at Ennis yesterday, no team in the land should ever again underestimate Clare.

It was the best performance by the side he had seen since taking over the reins and he then warned them of a tough training session tomorrow night in Crusheen to underline his point.

"You can celebrate tonight and you deserve it," he said. "But the real hard work is yet to come," he warned.

Privately he said afterwards that this victory over Down would mean an enormous amount to the players themselves and to their confidence and morale.

It was indeed a victory for hard work but it was also a victory over some self-doubt and quite a bit of error in the basics of the game. On a perfect pitch in cold but sunny conditions and with a dry ball, neither side had reason to be complacent afterwards. The truth of the matter was that the match had been riddled with errors as players squandered hard-won possession and as a result threw away some excellent scoring chances.

In fairness it has to be said that both defences dominated the early stages of the match but the failure to offer support to the man in possession going forward was more often at fault for the breakdown of what appeared to be highly promising moves.

In addition there was the assessment of the Down manager, Peter McGrath, that some of his players "did not perform". He also accepted that when Clare moved full forward Peter Cosgrove to midfield early in the second half Down faded out of the match. "When the going got tough at midfield and centre-half forward we just did not match them," he said.

His counterpart O'Keeffe also identified Francis McInerney and Cosgrove as well as wing forward Ger Keane as the key players in the victory and he attributed the overall performance of the team to some very intensive training sessions since the resumption of hard work early in the last month.

As far as Clare were concerned it had been a near disastrous first quarter. Down seemed in total control and might have been out of sight were it not for four squandered opportunities of points - two by the normally accurate Mickey Linden - during that period. And yet Clare had reason to be happy enough with an 0-4 to nil deficit at that stage. After 17 minutes it was Martin Daly who put the first point on the Clare scoreboard but it should have been a goal as he drove the ball fiercely over the crossbar with the Down goalkeeper Michael McVeigh badly exposed with the net yawning behind him.

It was then that Clare began to force their way back into the match and it was McInerney who set up Peadar McMahon for another point and then Ger Keane swept in for yet another before Linden finally found the range. The busy Gavin Murdoch then tagged on another for Down as the match livened up considerably. A successful free by Keane however meant that Down were leading by a mere two points - six to four - at half time.

Some bewildering switches were made in the second half with Keane moving to full forward and Cosgrove to midfield for Clare but it was slack marking in the Down defence that gave Clare the crucial breakthrough.

Ten minutes of the second half had elapsed when Keane, dropping back into a more familiar role around the middle of the field, spotted Martin Daly unmarked in the danger area and Daly made the most of his opportunity to drive the ball to the net.

Down struggled to recover as Clare began to show greater fitness and resolve but the sides were still level after 15 minutes of the second half at 1-6 to 1-9.

It was then that Clare forged ahead with points by Keane and Daly as the end approached. The Down substitute Jimmy McAlinden missed a good chance to cut the lead, leaving his colleague Gavin Murdoch with no alternative but to go for a goal from a 30-yard free just on the call of time. Sadly for Down, the ball narrowly went over the bar to leave them still one point adrift.

Clare: J Hanrahan; A Malone, B Rouine , F Griffin; B Keating, P Gallagher, D O'Driscoll; S Hehir (0-1), D O'Sullivan; G Keane (0-4, two frees), F McInerney, P McMahon (0-1), J Enright, P Cosgrove, M Daly (1-2). Subs: M Liddane for McMahon (46 mins); E McGuane for Keating (58 mins).

Down: M McVeigh; M McEvoy, M Magill, M McMurray; F Caulfield, S McMahon, S Poland; C Deegan, A Molloy (0-1); G Deegan (0-1), G Murdock (0-4, three frees) P Sloan (0-1); S Ward, M Linden (0-2), A Quinn (0-1). Sub: J McAlinden for Sloan (48 mins).

Referee: M Curley (Galway).