Munster exposed by late surge

CELTIC LEAGUE/Celtic Warriors 29 Munster 25: Munster went down to a narrow defeat to the Celtic Warriors at Pontypridd last night. Twice Munster took the lead, Jason Holland, Anthony Horgan and Christian Cullen scoring tries, the latter his first for the province.

But an underperforming pack and too many lapses in concentration allowed the Welsh region to steal victory in the final minutes and give Munster plenty to consider before next week's Heineken Cup quarter-final.

Alan Gaffney can at least be thankful of not picking up any major injury concerns ahead of that crunch clash with Stade Francais next Saturday.

Munster wasted no time in making an impact and raced into an early lead as Holland profited from Mike Mullins's power and speed.

Mullins took Munster upfield with a searing break through midfield, offloading to Cullen, who was brought down short, and then linked up with Holland from the ensuing scrum to unlock the defence for the outhalf to stretch over and score.

Paul O'Connell was held up over the line and Horgan had a try disallowed for a forward pass as Munster's back line outclassed their hosts, who had been hit with the late withdrawal of Gareth Thomas.

Munster were made to pay for failing to take those early chances and punished further when Donncha O'Callaghan was sent to the sin-bin for stamping on Richard Bryan. Gethin Jenkins barged over from a lineout a minute later to bring the home side back to life. Ceri Sweeney's conversion and penalty levelled the scores.

Horgan struck back for Munster as Mullins was again the architect with a searing break to leave Horgan with an easy stroll into the corner after 30 minutes.

Sweeney then struck twice before the break to leave Warriors 16-15 ahead at half-time.

Munster got off to a flying start in the second half and Mullins provided the impetus in attack, carving open the Warriors defence before passing to Cullen, who scored under the posts.

Despite the conversion and a later penalty giving them a 25-16 lead, Munster transpired to throw the lead away again, even with a one-man advantage.

The Warriors' dominance in the scrum saw number eight Bryan score from close range before Richard Parks was yellow-carded for a professional foul.

Munster, however, had no response to the Warriors' surge and conceded two late penalties, which Sweeney converted to seal their victory.

SCORERS: Warriors - G Jenkins, try; R Bryan, try; C Sweeney, two cons, five pens. Munster - J Holland, try; A Horgan, try; C Cullen try; J Holland two cons, two pens.

WARRIORS: K Morgan; G Wyatt, S James, J Bryant, R Mustoe; C Sweeney, G Cooper; G Jenkins, M Rees, C Horsman, B Cockbain, R Sidoli, R Parks, R Bryan, C Harris. Replacements: N Jenkins for Bryant (37-40 mins), for James (55 mins); R Jones for Bryan (45-50 mins); M Jones for Horsman (52 mins); M Davies for Rees (63 mins); D Jones for Cockbain (70 mins); A Havili for Mustoe (74 mins);

MUNSTER: C Cullen; J Kelly, M Mullins, R Henderson, A Horgan; J Holland, E Reddan; F Roche, J Flannery, G McIlwham, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, J Williams, A Foley, D Wallace. Replacements: R Callaghan for Roche (67 mins); F Murphy for Reddan (74 mins).

Referee: Andy Ireland (Scotland).