Dolphin may have had ambition but they were unable to see it through at Musgrave Park on Saturday. Young Munster proved a much more difficult nut to crack than Garryowen the previous weekend.

The Clifford Park side are now third in the league and it is their best start to the campaign since they won the title in 1993. Dolphin carried the game to Young Munster in the opening half, but fell by the wayside in the second. Captain Ger Earls and Irish prop Peter Clohessy led the second-half siege for Young Munster. Mick O'Donovan broke the deadlock of the opening half with a great Dolphin try to give his side an 8-3 lead at the interval. But Young Munster hit back viciously and quickly with a succession of second-half tries to put the game beyond reach of the Cork side.

Scoring sequence: 16 mins: C Mahony penalty (3-0); 36 mins: A O'Halloran penalty (33); 39 mins: M O'Donovan try (8-3); 42 mins: D Tobin try (8-8); 48 mins: A O'Halloran penalty (11-8); 57 mins: M Lynch try, O'Halloran conversion (18-8); 60 mins: P Boland try, O'Halloran conversion (25-8); 63 mins: O'Halloran penalty (28-8); 67 mins: D Pomeroy try, C Mahony conversion (28-15); 78 mins: A O'Halloran penalty (31-15).

dolphin: R Dineen; D O'Dowd, Conor Mahony, Cian Mahony, M O'Donovan; J O'Mahony, K Murphy; P Scott, T Kingston, E Knowles, H Farrelly, J Forde, T O'Connell, S Jackson, D Pomeroy. Replacement: B Sheehan for Cian Mahony (half-time).

Young Munster: P Boland; D Walsh, M Lynch, N O'Meara, N McNamara; A O'Halloran, D Tobin; N Hartigan, M Hayes, P Clohessy, D O'Meara, M O'Halloran, B Buckley, D Edwards, G Earls. Replacements: A O'Herlihy for Edwards (62 mins); D Clohessy for Hartigan (73 mins).

Referee: L Mayne (Munster)