The Glasgow Warriors defeated Heineken Cup finalists, Munster, on their own patch today and as a result, finished in their highest ever Magners League position, fifth.

The Warriors’ performance was dominated by industrious running and a fierce defence and they were rewarded with their fifth straight win.

Glasgow weathered the opening five minutes of the game well, as Munster were expecting to catch a quick lead and saunter to an easy victory. But Glasgow had other ideas.

Max Evans and Lome Fa’atau linked up beautifully on the right flank before Justin Va’a bashed his way up the midfield.

As the first ten minutes closed, Thom Evans swooped up-field, giving the hosts a shock into realising that Glasgow were in business.

The evening saw Dan Parks continue with his new philosophy of getting his knees dirty and challenging the defence with all the weapons in his arsenal.

An up-and-under from the stand-off was well contested for and the resulting penalty took Glasgow well into the Munster half.

Sevens minutes later, to the amazement of everyone donning a red shirt, the Warriors crossed for the opening score.

As Munster mounted their assault, Colin Gregor pounced on a loose ball. His advance was keenly supported by Lome Fa’atau who took the points. Parks converted.

Munster then attempted to remind Glasgow which team was to be at the Millennium Stadium for the European final.

Good hands from Ronan O’Gara released full-back Denis Hurley who threaded a nice chip ahead for Anthony Horgan who had a clear run at the line, but the ball trickled into touch before he could get his hands on it.

Munster then found themselves back inside their own half with a line-out. However, as Ian Dowling took a quick throw, Dougie Hall anticipated the move and gratefully intercepted and “power-waddled” over the line. Parks converted.

The game then took a turn as Moray Low, the 23-year-old prop recently selected to tour Argentina with the Scotland national team, was stretchered off after going over on his ankle.

And with Low out of the picture for the remainder of the game, Munster took their chances and captain Anthony Foley received a quick pass to cross the line. O’Gara converted.

O’Gara then slotted two penalties in succession to narrow the gap to a single point. But two missed opportunities later on kept the Warriors in front going in at half-time.

Munster kept digging in to get the win ahead of their big day in Cardiff, but David Wallace’s attempt was held up by a Glasgow hand.

It was then over to Thom Evans to give Glasgow some breathing space on the score-board.

Bernardo Stortoni took the ball into contact and managed to offload the ball round the back of the defender. Evans kicked ahead and collected, working in inches of space, before grounding the ball in the corner barely managing to keep it under control. Parks added the two points.

A late try from Paul O’Connell gave Munster a lift but Paul Warwick missed the conversion to give them no real chance of clawing back.

Munster: Denis Hurley; Anthony Horgan, Lifeimi Mafi, Rua Tipoki, Ian Dowling; Ronan O’Gara, Peter Stringer; Federico Pucciariello, Frank Sheehan, John Hayes, Mick O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell, Donnacha Ryan, Alan Quinlan, Anthony Foley CAPTAIN
Substitutes: Keith Earls for Mafi (42 mins), David Wallace for Foley (48 mins), Marcus Horan and Tony Buckley (both 56 mins), Donncha O’Callaghan, Denis Leamy and Paul Warwick (all 65 mins)

Glasgow Warriors: Bernardo Stortoni; Lome Fa’atau, Max Evans, Andrew Henderson, Thom Evans; Dan Parks CAPTAIN, Colin Gregor; Justin Va’a, Dougie Hall, Moray Low, Opeta Palepoi, Dan Turner, Kelly Brown, John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie
Substitutes: Kevin Tkachuk for Low (28 mins), Fergus Thomson for Hall and Graeme Morrison for Henderson (both half-time), James Eddie for Brown (51 mins), Scott Barrow for Fa’atau (57 mins), Andy Newman for Palepoi (65 mins), Sam Pinder for Gregor (72 mins)

Referee: James Jones (WRU)