by Jamil Salih
CARDIFF Blues went down to high-flying Munster at Cardiff Arms Park as the visitors ran out comfortable winners in the Guiness PRO14 clash.
Proceedings began with a flurry of penalties, Jarrod Evans kicked two successfully whilst JJ Hanrahan got Munster on the board with a penalty of his own. The Blues led the away side 6-3 with 15 minutes gone.
The first try of the game came courtesty of Munster’s Chris Cloete who touched down from close range, Hanrahan converted to give the visitors a 6-10 lead.
Soon after, Hanrahan scored his third kick of the game to increase Munster’s lead by three.
Cardiff levelled the score on the stroke of half-time thanks to a Corey Domachowski try, his first in the Guiness PRO14.
Evans converted for the home side to make it an even game at the interval.
Jarrod Evans scored the first points of the second half thanks to a penalty but the lead was to be short lived as Munster touched down through Matthewson following some gritty work from Arnold. Hanrahan converted to put Munster 16-20 to the good.
The hosts had a try disallowed in the 53rd minute when Summerhill was penalised for a knock on by referee Stuart Berry, much to the disappointment of the Arms Park crowd.
Calvin Nash touched down soon after for Munster as he charged through the Blues backline to score the away side’s third try of the evening. Hanrahan’s resulting conversion hit the post which meant the scoreline stood at 16-25.
Munster touched down yet again, this time it was Matthewson who scored the try for the away side following a pulsating piece of attacking play as Munster began to really show their quality. Hanrahan’s conversion made it 16-30 with just under 15 minutes remaining.
Hanrahan made it 16-33 to the away side with a penalty kick in the dying embers.
The Blues scored a late try as Nick Williams touched down against his former side which meant that the hosts trailed by 10 points with a minute to go.
Williams’ try proved to be little more than a consolation as Munster wound up 22-33 victors on the night as the woes continued for the Blues, who have now lost four on the bounce and will be looking for a reaction next time out against The Cheetahs.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Garyn Smith, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams (C), 1 Corey Domachowski, 2 Kristian Dacey, 3 Scott Andrews, 4 Josh Turnbull, 5 Rory Thornton, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 7 Olly Robinson, 8 Will Boyde
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Nick Williams, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Willis Halaholo
Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Dan Goggin, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Alby Mathewson, 1 Jeremy Loughman, 2 Kevin O’Byrne, 3 Keynan Knox, 4 Darren O’Shea, 5 Fineen Wycherley, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 7 Chris Cloete, 8 Arno Botrha
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Liam O’Connor, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Jed Holloway, 20 Connor Oliver, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Tyler Bleyendaal, 23 Rory Scannell