Ireland's worst possible fears crystallised during the opening day's play of the Davis Cup in Budapest yesterday when both Scott Barron and John Doran lost their singles matches to sound clay-court Hungarian opposition.

"I am disappointed with the outcome but not with the effort" said Ireland's team -manager Peter Wright after watching his number one player Barron lose out in five sets to lowly ranked Norbet Mazany.

Barron went down 6-3 0-6 2-6 6-4 9-7 in over three hours. "I think it was a match Scott could have won. He fought off a number of match points but unfortunately not enough of them," said Wright.

Doran was dispatched in an hour and three quarters by Attila Savolt, 6-1 6-3 6-3. "John was outgunned by a more experienced player," Wright reported.