Munster 25-17 Glasgow

Munster (10) 25
Tries: Stringer, Murphy, Howlett Cons: O'Gara 2 Pens: O'Gara 2
Glasgow (6) 17
Try: O'Hare Pens: Gregor 4

Ronan O'Gara (right) is tackled by Glasgow's Kelly Brown
Munster moved back to the top of the Magners League as they held off battling Glasgow at Thomond Park.
Peter Stringer was gifted a try after a Johnnie Beattie mistake but Colin Gregor's two penalties kept Glasgow in touch as Munster led 10-6 at the break.
Barry Murphy's try helped increase the lead to 18-6 and while Gregor replied with two penalties, Doug Howlett's try gave Munster some breathing space.
Hefin O'Hare replied with a late Glasgow try but Munster held on.
Munster, playing their first game at the redeveloped Limerick venue after four opening wins this season, were gifted seven early points with Stringer pouncing to score after Beattie had spilled a routine line out.
O'Gara added the easy conversion and a penalty at either end by the respective fly-halves meant that Munster maintained their seven-point advantage.
However, Glasgow played some good rugby in the 20 minutes before half-time and Gregor's second penalty cut the lead to four and he was unlucky with another long-range effort which hit the woodwork.
Gregor, replacing the injured Dan Parks, should have reduced the arrears shortly after the interval but he missed a straightforward penalty.
O'Gara added his second penalty on 50 minutes and Munster looked set to take a firm grip on the game when Barry Murphy touched down on 54 minutes after a clever kick by Rui Tipoki.
But Glasgow, to their immense credit, maintained their resolve and a couple of uncharacteristic Munster indiscretions enabled Gregor to find his kicking accuracy again as the gap was reduced to six points by the 63rd minute.
Sensing the danger, Munster raised themselves and a burst of pressure yielded a try for Doug Howlett in the 67th minute.
Glasgow showed their character yet again on 75 minutes to punch a hole in the Munster defence as Hefin O'Hare went over in the corner.
But Gregor missed the crucial conversion which would have reduced Munster's lead to only six and the home side held on to move three points ahead of the Ospreys at the top of the table.
Munster: K Earls; D Howlett, B Murphy, R Tipoki, A Horgan, R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes; P O'Connell capt, D O'Callaghan, A Quinlan, J Melck, D Wallace.
Replacements: D Fogarty, T Buckley, M O'Driscoll, N Ronan, M Prendergast, P Warwick, K Lewis.
Glasgow: B Stortoni, L Fa'atau, M Evans, A Henderson, T Evans, C Gregor, M McMillan, J Va'a, D Hall, M Low, O Palepoi, A Kellock (capt), K Brown, J Barclay, J Beattie.
Replacements: EKalman, K Tkachuk, T Barker, S Swindall, R Jackson, G Morrison, H O'Hare.

This article was posted on 4-Oct-2008, 20:30 by Hugh Barrow.