Munster were beaten 30-22 by Neath in a thrilling Celtic League clash at the Knoll tonight with Neath fly-half Lee Jarvis scored all 30 points. Munster played their part but in the end it was man of the moment Jarvis who took all the plaudits. The opening quarter was dominated by the boot of respective number 10s Jarvis and Ronan O'Gara.
Jarvis had nudged Neath 9-6 ahead after 23 minutes until the crowd were brought to their feet by a cheeky piece of opportunism by that man Jarvis once more. Lining up to take a penalty the former Wales international saw the Munster defence off guard and took a quick tap to stroll over unopposed.
Jarvis landed the extras and then was on hand to cross once more on the stroke of half-time following a sweeping Neath move. After Munster had turned over possession prop Duncan Jones and skipper Gareth Llewellyn were heavily involved in the build-up, full-back Shaun Conner making the telling break and it was Jarvis who crept up on the inside to send Neath 21-6 ahead at the interval.
Munster, so often the comeback kings over recent years, started the second period strongly with plenty of pace and purpose to their game. And it started to show on the scoreboard as O'Gara landed three penalties in quick succession to bring his side to within one score.
The Irish visitors thought they had crossed soon after when a superbly weighted kick by O'Gara saw wing John O'Neill pick up the bouncing ball to score only for Scottish referee Rob Dickson to rule it out for offside. Neath came back straight away with Jarvis landing two more penalties to give them further breathing space.
But there was still life in the Munster rearguard when replacement lock Mick Galwey crossed from an impressive rolling maul which had started from a lineout 15 yards out. O'Gara converted to set up a thrilling finale, but it was fitting that the final word went to that man Jarvis with a superbly-struck drop goal from 30 yards out.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
