Connacht 12 Munster 18:With one win in their previous 32 games against Munster, Connacht were always unlikely to secure the bonus point win needed to drag them level with Ulster. However, in garnering one point from a narrow defeat they retain hope of nicking the third Heineken Cup place from under the noses of the northerners.
With three games yet to play – one more than Ulster - and match to come in Ravenhill, Michael Bradley’s side moved to within four of Brian McLaughlin’s.
The gap could well have been just one but late pressure from the homeside was successfully repelled by stout and disciplined Munster defending.
The win moves the defending champions into third, level on points with second-placed Ospreys and seven behind leaders Leinster.
With both sides crossing the line twice and notching one conversion apiece, the six-point win for Munster was effectively sealed by two early Paul Warwick penalties.
Munster began the game with three - Simon Zebo, Danny Barnes and Declan Cusack - but there was never a chance of them being a soft touch.
In a very physical opening quarter, Munster set the tone with a big hit by James Coughlan on Connacht captain John Muldoon.
A ruck infringement from Muldoon after four minutes was punished by a well-struck opening penalty from Warwick.
After a missed drop goal attempt from Cusack, Connacht’s experienced lock Michael Swift got isolated after a meaty tackle from Dave Ryan and Warwick swept his kick over for a 6-0 lead.
But Connacht’s first visit to the Munster 22, sparked by an Ian Keatley break, yielded a well-taken try.
Seán Cronin added some directness to the attack with a powerful burst, and Niva Ta’auso’s neat offload sent Johnny O’Connor barrelling over on the right. Keatley’s pinpoint conversion made it 7-6.
Connacht continued to see plenty of ball but Munster’s big forwards were winning the collisions, as evidenced by Nick Williams’ hand-off on George Naoupu in the lead-up to Niall Ronan’s 31st-minute score.
Williams thundered clear off a ruck, offloading for the supporting Tony Buckley to crash through and into Gavin Duffy’s tackle. With Connacht stretched, the overlap was created by Warwick on the right to put Ronan over in the corner.
Warwick missed the difficult conversion and a penalty from inside his own half, while Keatley also went wide from a left-sided penalty as the half ended with Munster four points in front.
The visitors increased their lead just two minutes after the break, as Williams sent Zebo through a gap and the debutant winger popped a one-handed pass for Scott Deasy to go over for a try which Warwick did brilliantly to convert.
Damien Varley, Buckley and captain Mick O’Driscoll rumbled forward to get Munster within sight of the line again, but some tremendous counter-rucking from Muldoon lifted the siege.
A deliberate knock on saw Zebo sin-binned and just a minute later, Naoupu used quick ruck ball to score in the left corner, although replacement Miah Nikora was off target with the conversion attempt.
It was nip and tuck right to the finish but Munster, with young tyros Dave Foley and Peter O’Mahony tackling their hearts out, had enough in reserve to see out their first away win in the league since September.