Glasgow Warriors were edged out by a very strong Munster side, on paper at least, by just two points despite a gallant effort at Musgrave Park in Cork.

The Warriors scored two tries to Munster’s one, but a sack full of penalties and a dubious call from the touch judge in the closing stages proved to be their undoing.

The Warriors opened the scoring with a Ruaridh Jackson penalty which was cancelled out by Ronan O’Gara just minutes later. (3-3)

O’Gara’s effort came as a result of lock Richie Gray being shown a rather harsh yellow card for not rolling away - his third sin binning in the last four games.

Glasgow then weathered two periods of severe Munster pressure before they crossed the line for the first try of the night.

Max Evans showed incredible strength to burst through a double-tackle and send Colin Gregor a one-handed offload as the scrum-half cut through at a searing angle. Jackson converted. (3-10)

The Warriors then continued to fend off Munster’s attacking efforts, their last of the half ending with centre Keith Earls being sent to the sin bin.

Half-time score: Munster 3-10 Warriors

Despite being a man up after the break, Glasgow showed some naivety to concede three penalties in the ensuing seven minutes.

British & Irish Lion’s playmaker O’Gara slotted all three to regain the lead for the home side. (12-10)

Just as Glasgow spent the half-time break with the upper-hand, the winds changed as Munster returned to full strength - Earls returning from the bin on 50 minutes - and the home side were buoyed by regaining the lead in his absence.

Glasgow chose to make a brace of changes before David Wallace crashed over the line amongst a pile of red jerseys. Referee James Jones consulted the Television Match Official who awarded the score. O’Gara converted. (19-10)

Glasgow refused to lie down, however, and came back in style thanks to some silky skills from Jackson.

As the ball made its way to the right, Jackson gave a nice one-handed offload, and he was soon back in the thick of things as he sent DTH van der Merwe in at the left corner for the Canadian international to become the joint-second top try scorer in the Magners League. Gregor converted. (19-17)

Jackson sent the on-looking Glasgow fans into euphoria as he nudged over a drop goal to hand the visitors the incentive with the game entering the final ten minutes. (19-20)

But it was all too soon. As Munster battered Glasgow’s line, fullback Bernardo Stortoni ran up and challenged his opposite man, however, as he executed the tackle, his hand made accidental contact with the ball – his eye-line not focussed on the ball but on the oncoming player.

The local touch judge thought differently, however, and awarded O’Gara his fifth penalty of the night, which he kicked to win the game. (22-20)

Full-time score: Munster 22-20 Warriors

Munster: Paul Warwick; Denis Hurley, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Johne Murphy; Ronan O’Gara, Peter Stringer; Darragh Hurley, Damien Varley, John Hayes; Donncha O’Callaghan, Mick O’Driscoll, James Coughlan, David Wallace, Denis Leamy CAPTAIN
Substitutes: M Sherry, D Kilcoyne, Peter Borlase, Donnacha Ryan, Niall Ronan, Tomas O’Leary, Tom Gleeson, Barry Murphy.

Glasgow Warriors: Bernardo Stortoni; Alex Dunbar, Max Evans, Peter Murchie, DTH van der Merwe; Ruaridh Jackson, Colin Gregor; Ryan Grant, Dougie Hall, Moray Low, Richie Gray, Alastair Kellock CAPTAIN, Robert Harley, John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie
Substitutes: Pat MacArthur, Kevin Tkachuk, Jon Welsh, Aly Muldowney, Ryan Wilson, Henry Pyrgos, Dave McCall, Peter Horne