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Munster moved to the top of Guinness PRO14 Conference B with a convincing 33-23 victory over Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park.<\/p>\nMunster moved to the top of Guinness PRO14 Conference B with a convincing 33-23 victory over Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park.<\/p>\n
The visitors outscored their opponents by four tries to two to send Blues to their fourth league defeat in a row.<\/p>\n
That record leaves Cardiff 11 points behind Scarlets in the third play-off place, leaving them with much to do if they are to retrieve their season.<\/p>\n
Alby Mathewson scored two tries for Munster, with Chris Cloete and Calvin Nash adding the others and J. J. Hanrahan kicking three penalties and two conversions.<\/p>\n
Corey Domachowski and Nick Williams touched down for Blues\u2019 tries while Jarrod Evans chipped in with three penalties and a conversion. Jason Tovey also added a conversion.<\/p>\n
Cardiff took a seventh-minute lead when Evans fired over a penalty after the visitors had infringed at a scrum.<\/p>\n
With the wind in their faces, Munster were forced to run the ball at almost every opportunity and a powerful burst from Calvin Nash took them into the home 22, where Hanrahan tied up the scores with a penalty.<\/p>\n
They were not level for long, though, as straight from the restart the Irish were penalized, allowing Evans to put the hosts back in front.<\/p>\n
However, Munster continued to trouble the Blues defense, with Darren O\u2019Shea and Arno Botha combining skillfully to punch a hole in it before Matthew Morgan managed to drag down the latter to prevent a certain try.<\/p>\n
It mattered little as minutes later O\u2019Shea and Jeremy Loughman made holes in a porous defense for Cloete to force his way over.<\/p>\n
Hanrahan converted and added a penalty as his side continued to dominate with their expert ball retention in the difficult conditions, but Cardiff struck back when Domachowski rewarded a sustained period of pressure by forcing his way over to make it 13-13 at the interval.<\/p>\n
After the restart, Blues continued their rally and were rewarded with a third penalty from Evans, but the visitors again demonstrated their superb handling skills when Kevin O\u2019Byrne and Botha set up a try for Mathewson.<\/p>\n
Mathewson then turned provider with a neat pass sending Nash over and Blues looked in trouble trailing 25-16 going into the final quarter.<\/p>\n
Munster saved the best for last when a superb run from replacement Rory Scannell saw him supported by Mathewson and Dan Goggin before Mathewson was on hand to collect the scoring pass.<\/p>\n
Hanrahan missed the conversion but succeeded with a late penalty before a try from Nick Williams gave Blues some respectability.<\/p>\n