Two late converted tries salvaged a bonus point for Dungannon at Clifford Park on Saturday; but even so they were still unable to avoid going down to their eighth successive away defeat in the AIB League.
Young Munster claimed the honours thanks largely to the dominance they enjoyed in the opening stages, during which they scored 13 points without reply even though they were playing against a gale.
A try by Mike Lynch, a penalty and conversion by Tom Cregan and a drop goal by Michael Prendergast put them 13-0 ahead within 23 minutes. Dungannon had to wait until the 43rd minute for David Humphreys to put them on the scoreboard with a long-range penalty.
Two more penalties for Young Munster by Cregan stretched the lead to 19-3 before Dungannon finally came to life and winger Jan Cunningham and centre Johnny Bell went over for tries, both converted by Humphreys.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 9 mins: Cregan pen 3-0; 18: Prendergast drop goal 6-0; 23: Lynch try, Cregan con 13-0; 43: Humphreys pen, 13-3; 50: Cregan pen, 16-3; 58: Cregan pen, 19-3; 68: Cunningham try, Humphreys con 19-10; 80: J Bell try, Humphreys con 19-17.
YOUNG MUNSTER: M Connolly; T Cregan, M Mullins, L Doyle, C Casey; M Lynch, M Prendergast; T Downes, B Cantrell, M Fitzgerald, D Peters, P O'Connell, M Tepau, K Rose, M Ngarimu. Replacements: K Gallagher for Tepau, C Power for Peters.
DUNGANNON: B Cunningham; A Hood, R Constable, J Bell, J Cunningham; D Humphreys, S Bell; J Fitzpatrick, A Clarke, G Leslie, P Johns, A Kearney, A Boyd, A Hughes, T McWhirter. Replacements: R Mackey for Leslie, N Brady for Clarke.
Referee: D Courtney (Leinster).
