Ireland came from behind in their Davis Cup clash against Macedonia last night to clinch a promotion play-off tie against Cyprus today.
Appearing in just his second Davis Cup rubber, 18-year-old Bjorn Thomson lost 3-6 6-3 6-3 to Dimitar Grabul in the opening contest of the Europe Zone Group Three event in Tallinn, Estonia.
But Sam Barry levelled matters for Conor Niland's side when he cruised to a 6-3 6-4 victory in the battle of the No 1 players against Tomislav Jotovski.
And then Limerick man Barry went back on court - after a brief recovery period - and partnered Dubliner David O'Hare to a 6-3 6-2 success against Grabul and Jotovski in the deciding doubles contest.
Barry and doubles specialist O'Hare broke their opponents twice to take the first set.
A further break ensued in the fourth game of the second set, and then after the Macedonians had bravely saved three match points, Barry and O'Hare broke their opponents for the fourth time to clinch victory.
It will be a difficult task for Ireland in the play-off to decide one of two promotion slots to Group Two in next year's Davis Cup, as Cyprus are powered by former world No 8 Marcos Baghdatis, now ranked 39.
