Reserves regular Shane Lowry made a winning start to his Under-21 career as the Republic of Ireland beat hosts Malaysia 3-1 in the opening game of the Intercontinental Cup.

The Aussie-born defender was one of five debutants in coach Don Givens' side as Michael Collins (2) and Stephen Ward secured the victory.

Givens said: "The result is a great start for us in the tournament. Malaysia were a good technical side and they caused us a few problems.

"We had a young, inexperienced team out on the pitch and they performed well to get the three points. The only part that disappointed me was some of our defending in the second half.

"The hot weather was always going to be a problem for us but I felt we dealt well with it. All of the lads are very tired after the game."

Ireland now face tournament favourites Nigeria on Saturday before rounding off the group stages against Iraq.

Chile, Australia, Croatia and Ghana are competing in the other group with the winner of each pool qualifying for the final.