Under-21 International Scotland 16 Ireland 8Ireland's unbeaten record against Scotland at under-21 level was ended last night at Westfield Stadium in Falkirk after an indifferent performance by the young Irish side, not helped by the sending off in the second half of scrumhalf Cillian Willis.

Coach Mark McDermott was bitingly critical of his young charges when he said : "It was an absolutely shocking performance and consistent with what we did against Italy. Our basic skills let us down. There were too many turnovers. But, despite all of that, we still could have won the game."

In defeat, Ireland had promising performances from centre Andrew Trimble and number eight Stephen Ferris. Their attack was also sharpened when winger Tommy Bowe came off the bench. In the forward battle Ireland had the edge in the scrums, but it was the Scots who came were the better in the lineout.

A penalty goal by David Blair gave Scotland the lead after 17 minutes, but Ireland responded immediately - using turnover ball to launch a swift attack through centre Andrew Trimble.

However, the move ended with a lineout at which lock Lewis Stevenson offended by taking out an opponent in the air to earn a yellow card. Ireland survived the next 10 minutes, even though Blair might have increased Scotland's lead had his goal-kick not hit the post.

Then, just before half-time, Stephen Ferris broke through the midfield, but from the recycled possession full back Mark Kettyle knocked on a metre from the line to leave the Scots with a three-point interval advantage.

In a dramatic start to the second half, Scotland scored after great running in midfield from substitute centre Ian Kennedy, who angled his strike perfectly before outstripping the defence to score the game's first try.

The drama continued as Ireland attacked Scotland near the tryline, only for a promising situation to end in disaster when scrumhalf Willis used his boot carelessly in the ruck leaving the French referee with no option but issue a red card.

But a penalty goal by Gareth Steenson denoted a defiant attitude in the Irish side and when the 14-man side launched attacks through three phases, Kettyle atoned for an earlier miss to touch down in the corner for an unconverted try. However, Scotland's Ross Ford soon crashed over to leave the scoreline 13-8.

Ireland hit back with a break by left wing Paul McKenzie that yielded a promising field position, but the Irish forwards were unable to claim the last yards.

With five minutes remaining Scotland were reduced to 14 men when flanker Colin White was sin-binned for careless obstruction. But it made no difference as the Scots increased their lead with a second penalty goal from Blair to seal their first ever victory over Ireland.

SCORERS: Scotland - Tries: Kennedy, Ford; Pens: Blair (2). Ireland - Tries: Kettyle; Pen: Steenson.

Scotland: B Archibald (Stirling County); B Addison (Stirling County), N De Luca (Heriot's), G Law (Hawick), S Manning (Ayr); D Blair (Sale Sharks), A McFarlane (GHA); S Corsar (Aberdeen GSFP), R Ford (The Borders), S Fenwick (Ayr), I Nimmo (Heriot's), S Walker (Newcastle Falcons), C White (Stirling County), N Cochrane (Watsonians), S Forrest (Glasgow Hawks). Subs: S Lawrie (Watsonians) for Corsar 78, D Young (Leicester Tigers) for Fenwick 26, I Kennedy (GHA) for DeLuca 40, A Nash (Watsonians)for Archibald 70.

Ireland: M Kettyle (Belfast Harlequins); S Grissing (UCD), A Trimble (Ballymena), K Geraghty (Ballymena), P McKenzie (Belfast Harlequins); G Steenson (Dungannon, captain), C Willis (UCD); M Diffley (Buccaneers), S Philpott (Saracens), J Andress (Belfast Harlequins), M Melbourne (Garryowen), L Stevenson (Belfast Harlequins), B McNamee (Northampton), C Henry (Malone), S Ferris (Dungannon). Subs: R Caldwell (Dungannon) for Melbourne 40, D O'Leary (UCC) for McNamee, B Keeshan (Cork Constitution) for Steenson 73, T Bowe (Belfast Harlequins) for Geraghty 47.

Referee: JP Matheu (France).