Young Munster Return To Winning Ways

A penalty try inside the last two minutes gave Mike Prendergast's men a bonus point victory in what was a disappointingly one-sided Division 1A encounter.

Young Munster got off to solid start when scrum half Alan Kingsley pumped a fourth minute penalty through the posts, punishing Dolphin for not releasing the ball after a tackle.

He doubled the tally with another successful penalty when this time the Cork side were penalised for going over the top.

The big home support were in full cry as the first quarter came to a close. A smart follow-up from a kick ahead saw Young Munster turn over possession and Matthew Costelloe set up Aaron Carroll for his first try of the New Year, which Kingsley converted to make it 13-0.

Another Kingsley penalty followed after 32 minutes and Dolphin's first chance of a score was missed by skipper Barry Keeshan who watched his penalty curl wide.

There was no let-up by the Cookies and they had a second try just before the break. Awarded a penalty in front of ther posts, they opted to move the ball wide and Kingsley's cross-field kick bounced up for big centre Costelloe to score in the corner. Kingsley fired over a superb conversion to leave the hosts in cruise control at 23-0.

Keeshan missed another penalty chance, three minutes after the restart, and it just about summed up Dolphin's day.

Kingsley almost got in for a try after 53 minutes but when he was stopped short, flanker James O'Neill pounced for the five points after good work from Mark Doyle and Gareth Jones.

With Young Munster going all out for a fourth try, referee Alain Rolland ran out of patience with the Dolphin pack for bringing down a succession of scrums and awarded a penalty try to Munsters.

Out-half Willie Staunton converted to put the icing on the cake for Prendergast's side who have risen from seventh to fourth in the standings.

Referee: Alain Rolland (IRFU)