Heineken Cup

Shane Geraghty and Chris Ashton provided all the points as the Northampton Saints got their Pool 1 Heineken Cup campaign off to a dream start with a 31-27 victory over Irish powerhouse Munster at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday night.

The Saints had to withstand a brave second half fightback from the Magners League Champions but they fully deserved their victory. One of the form sides in the Guinness Premiership, the Saints confirmed their status as one of the rising teams in Europe with a dramatic victory over the star-studden Munster side.

Always expected to be tight, the scoring started after 10 minutes when Geraghty slotted the first of his four penalties to put Northampton 3-0 up. Ashton then grabbed the first of his two tries on the night in the 17th minute before, three minutes later, Paul Warwick finally put Munster on the board.

David Wallace's try five minutes later leveled the score but already the home crowd knew they were in for an almight battle.

Both Ronan O'Gara and Geraghty then exchanged a couple penalties each as the match moved towards half time. Just before the whistle though Geraghty struck a killer blow, dotting down for Jim Mallinder's men and taking them into the interval 21-14 up.

Spurred on by the half time team talk the Saints started the second half well. Just five minutes after the break Ashton scored his second and gave Northampton a commanding 14 point lead.

Munster though are not two time European Champions for nothing. Showing great determination Paul O'Connell's men got themselves back into the match, almost snatching victory at the death.

O'Gara clawed his team to within eight points thanks to two more penalties but it was Tomas O'Leary's try in the 68th minute that set up a dramatic finish.

With just one point between the sides it was left to Geraghty to steady the ship for Northampton once again. The England international slotted his final penalty, extending his teams lead back to four, and preventing any late drop-goal heart-break.

Try as they might Munster could not find the fatal blow in the final minutes of the match and Northampton claimed an historic victory - once again proving how difficult a task it is to overcome the Premiership high-flyers at Franklin's Gardens.

The Scorers

For Northampton

Tries: Ashton 2, Geraghty
Pen: Geraghty 4
Cons: Geraghty 2

For Munster

Tries: Wallace, O'Leary
Pen: O'Gara 4
Cons: O'Gara

The Teams

Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Bruce Reihana, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Lee Dickson
8 Roger Wilson, 7 Neil Best, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Santiago Bonorino, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Soane Tonga’uiha
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Regardt Dreyer, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Chris Mayor

Munster: 15 Paul Warwick, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Lifeimi Mafi, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Alan Quinlan, 5 Paul O'Connell (captain), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Michael Horan
Replacements: 16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Julien Brugnaut, 18 Darragh Hurley, 19 Mick O'Driscoll, 20 Niall Ronan, 21 Donncha Ryan, 22 Peter Stringer, 23 Ian Dowling

Referee: Referees: Christophe Berdos (France)