Munster regain top spot

A try in either half for Munster was enough to take them back to the top of the Magners League after a 25-21 victory over the Ospreys at Liberty Stadium.

The Irish side clinched their first ever victory in the Welsh principality thanks to scores from Lafiemi Mafi and Tomas O'Leary, who excelled for the visitors and finished the game by kicking a late penalty.

Injury-hit Munster had to overcome a first-half knock to stand-off Paul Warwick, while opposite number James Hook had kept the Ospreys in the game with seven successful kicks at goal from eight attempts.

But despite a number of indiscretions at the breakdown it was the Irish side that took the lion's share of the points in a top-of-the-table clash that failed to ignite.

Munster took the lead as early as the fourth minute when Mafi squeezed over by the right-hand flag after left wing Ian Dowling had broken through the Ospreys line.

Irish indiscipline

Hook got the hosts on the board just two minutes later after David Wallace came in from the side in what would be the first of many examples of Irish ill-discipline.

Warwick and Hook traded penalties but the former then stretched the lead in the 25th minute before the Wales international missed his only kick of the night, with the ball grazing the right-hand post.

On the half-hour mark Jonny Vaughton came closest to crossing for the Ospreys after a break from Parker, but replays showed that the winger had been bundled into touch by O'Leary moments before touching down.

However, Ospreys' possession soon earned them a penalty which Hook unsurpringly slotted over, sending the Welsh side into the break just two points adrift at 11-9 with Warwick out of the match with concussion.

And within 10 minutes of the restart the hosts looked to have taken a grip on the match, Hook twice able to kick goals - the second from halfway - to give Ospreys a four-point cushion.

But moments later Tom Smith was unable to stop himself coming in from the wrong side at the breakdown and replacement stand-off Conan Doyle narrowed the deficit with a confident kick.

The best passage of play followed when Wallace showed great pace to break clear deep into Welsh territory, only to find himself isolated and forced to concede the penalty.

Shane Williams saw an opening for a quick break and dashed clear himself with the Irish slow to re-group, Darragh Hurley producing a fine tackle before Hook carried the ball on, Dowling cynically coming over the top to prevent a possible try.

Yellow card

The Welsh fly-half reinstated the four-point lead and with Dowling sin-binned for his pains Ospreys would have been looking to hammer home their advantage.

However, just five minutes later Steve Tandy was shown the yellow card for deliberately obstructing the ball on the floor, and Doyle slotted over from right in front to make it 18-17.

The points were up for grabs and it was Munster who seized their chance, the ubiquitous O'Leary popping up to score after a fine break from Mafi that took him to within five metres of the line.

Doyle missed the extras, but two minutes later with the replacement off the field stand-in number 10 O'Leary booted the Irish into a seven point lead after Alun Wyn-Jones belied his experience to give away a cheap penalty.

With 10 minutes on the clock it was John O'Sullivan's turn to make an elementary error, taking out Lee Byrne as he waited for the ball to come down.

Hook took his personal tally to 21 points yet the home side were unable to carve out the score they required to overhaul the visitors, having to settle for a losing bonus point as Munster banished the memory of two successive defeats with a scrappy success on their travels.