Munster back to winning ways
Paul O'Connell made his long-awaited return from injury in Munster's 16-9 win over Cardiff Blues at a foggy Thomond Park.
Last Updated: 05/12/10 1:00am
Paul O'Connell returned from injury to help Munster overcome a half-time deficit and see off Cardiff Blues 16-9 at a foggy Thomond Park.
Flanker Alan Quinlan scored the game's only try while Ronan O'Gara kicked 11 points as the Magners League leaders returned to winning ways.
Dan Parks kicked all of Cardiff's points, including two penalties in the opening 40 minutes that helped give the visitors a 6-3 lead at the break.
However Munster rallied impressively after the break to make sure they bounced back after an away defeat at the Dragons last time out.
O'Connell comeback
The win was made even better with O'Connell making his comeback; the lock coming off the bench in the second half to make his first appearance for the province since January having been sidelined by a problematic groin injury.
Cardiff did not make life easy for their hosts, though, with Parks opening the scoring with a terrific 48-metre penalty from close to the left touchline.
Munster were the more dominant side, even turning down a kickable penalty in favour of a close-in line-out, but could not turn their pressure into points.
And, after being disciplined in defence, the Blues launched a rare attack that led to Taufa'ao Filise rumbling towards the posts.
From the ensuing ruck Munster had Tony Buckley sin-binned for spoiling, allowing Parks to pop over a simple penalty and make it 6-0.
O'Gara finally got Munster on the scoreboard with a 39th-minute penalty after he himself had been tackled late by Cardiff replacement Ben White.
Inches away
Within 43 seconds of the restart, the Blues were inches away from a try with only Mick O'Driscoll's left leg denying a diving Tom Shanklin in the right corner.
The lucky escape seemed to be the catalyst for a Munster recovery, though, with Quinlan crashing over despite the presence of two Cardiff defenders, to put his side ahead for the first time.
O'Gara converted for a 10-6 lead and then added his second penalty to make it a seven-point advantage.
O'Connell's arrival into the action was warmly greeted by the Munster fans and he won an immediate line-out to draw the biggest cheer of the night.
Parks' third successful penalty closed the gap to 13-9 on the hour, but as the fog closed in Munster's forwards were able to keep things tight and exert more control, allowing O'Gara to settle matters with a late penalty.
