Munster pick up first points

Munster 9 Borders 8: Munster picked up their first points of the Magners League as the boot of Jeremy Manning saw them edge out the Borders. Three penalties from the young fly-half, who qualifies for Ireland next August, were enough to see the Heineken Cup champions to their first win of the season.

Bidding to become only the second Scottish side to be successful at Thomond Park, the Borders were far from fluent but did claim the game's only try when Scottish Academy winger Mark Robertson touched down on the hour mark.

However, with their mix of academy players and newcomers, Munster held out for their seventh win in seven meetings with the men from Galashiels.

There were few bright spots in an error-strewn first half. The visitors got off to a shaky start when James Coughlan charged down a clearance kick from Scotland scrum-half Chris Cusiter, but both sides evidently lacked a cutting edge.

Cusiter did throw in some snappy breaks, while Robertson, who was playing in his first professional game, chased and harried.

Manning missed a 45-metre shot at the posts before Borders full-back Calum MacRae pinged over a 19th-minute penalty for the opening points.

A knock-on from Kelly Brown from the restart led to Munster's best spell and two penalties from Manning - the second in injury time after a Gavin Kerr error - saw the hosts go into the break 6-3 ahead.

Number eight James Coughlan had been Munster's player of the half - his side-step past Steve Jones delighted the majority of the 6,138-strong crowd - and another strong drive from the Dolphin clubman, just minutes into the second half, offered Manning a penalty chance.

But the New Zealand-born kicker was just wide to the right. He did regain his poise on 50 minutes when he slotted over for 9-3 after a Ben MacDougall offside.

Manning's night was spoiled by a shoulder injury but not before his midfield pass was gobbled up by Nick De Luca, and a neat link by MacDougall saw Robertson go over in the left corner.

MacRae tried manfully to swing the conversion in, but it tailed away and the Borders were left with a one-point deficit that they were unable to claw back.

Munster: S Payne; C O'Boyle or T Gleeson; J Kelly, J Downey, M Lawlor; J Manning, T O'Leary; D Hurley, F Sheahan, F Pucciariello; C Wyatt, D Ryan; J O'Sullivan, T McGann, J Coughlin. Replacements: T Ryan, AN Other, S O'Connor, B Cuttriss, G Hurley, E Hickey, T Gleeson or D Hurley.

Border Reivers: C MacRae; G Law, N De Luca, B MacDougall, M Robertson; S Jones, C Cusiter; G Kerr, R Ford, B Douglas; O Palepoi, S Grimes; S Gray, R Beattie, K Brown. Replacements: S Scott, E Kalman, C Hamilton, J Dalziel, B McKerchar, G Townsend, A Miller.