Having outgunned Munster on home turf in the Celtic Cup, the visitors were floored by a sucker-punch try at the end of the first half, then the deadly boot of Jeremy Staunton.

The nerves of both sides shone through in the opening sparring session, which was marred by a series of very basic mistakes.

Glasgow carved out the first clear-cut scoring opportunity when prop Mattie Proudfoot was at the forefront of a rolling maul which progressed 15 metres into enemy territory. Centre Sean Lamont carried on the good work, only for the visitors to be mysteriously penalised at the breakdown.

Munster also had an opportunity to draw first blood via a straightforward penalty from Staunton in the 16th minute, however his attempt flew wide of the target.

Neither side was able to get a stranglehold on the game and next it was Glasgow’s turn to set up a series of raids. Again, though, they lacked the necessary poise and patience when it came to finishing.

Graeme Morrison and Proudfoot both troubled the home defence with strong charges, while Rory Kerr and Jon Steel each went within a fingertip of grabbing interception ball.

Having soaked up the pressure, Munster finally edged in front four minutes before the interval with a Staunton penalty from close-range, when prop Lee Harrison failed to roll clear following a tackle.

Then came the moment that the Irishmen really snatched the initiative. Deep into stoppage time, Dominic Crotty popped up a short pass for Mike Mullins to dart between markers to give Staunton the simplest of conversions. Suddenly, the visitors went in at the interval knowing that they simply had to chase the game.

And Glasgow's hopes of a quick reply after the restart were dashed when they fell victims to their own ill-discipline. They gave away a spate of penalties in the danger-zone, enabling Staunton to collect a further nine quick points and allowing Muster to build a healthy advantage.

Even worse was to come for the Scots soon after. Reduced to 13 men with Donny Macfadyen and Paul Dearlove in the sin-bin, David Wallace ploughed through for a touchdown to well and truly snuff out any prospect of a fightback. Staunton duly added the extra points and it was game over, even though Morrison and Stuart Moffat broke through for Glasgow's consolation touchdowns in the dying seconds.

Report by Allan Christie of The Scotsman.