Munster bounced back from their shock defeat to Benetton Treviso last weekend with a comfortable 23-9 RaboDirect PRO12 victory over Newport Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park.

The Irish province had been knocked off the summit of the table after their defeat at Stadio Monigo but got back on track in a scrappy encounter which saw James Cronin and captain Peter O’Mahoney score vital decisive tries either side of half-time.

The win moves them to within three points of league-leading pair Ospreys and Glasgow Warriors and level with Leinster on 13 points ahead of their clash with the reigning champions at Thormond Park next weekend.

Newport Gwent Dragons were limited to just three penalties from the boot of Italy international Kris Burton as they lost their second successive away match of the season.

The opening 20 minutes was a cagey affair punctuated by handling errors and both teams were limited to a just pair of penalties apiece from Burton and JJ Hanrahan.

At 6-6 the 21-year-old Munster fly-half missed the opportunity to edge Munster in front on 22 minutes but after some heavy pressure the home side finally made the vital breakthrough as they crossed the whitewash with half-time
approaching.

Some resolute Dragons defence looked like it could keep the scores level until the interval but on 35 minutes prop Cronin eventually powered through a gap to touch down for his second try of the season, with Hanrahan adding the conversion to make the score 13-6 at half-time.

The match did not open up much after the interval as both teams continued to struggle to find a rhythm, but Connacht closed the gap to four points as Burton slotted his third penalty of the evening.

But it was as close as the visitors would come as they decisively lost two players to the sin bin in quick succession on 52 minutes.

First Dragons captain Andrew Coombs went after a TMO replay confirmed an incident of foul play, before Jevon Groves saw yellow just seconds later for dragging down a maul as Munster tried to press home their advantage.

With a two-man numerical advantage Munster went for the jugular and immediately crossed through captain O’Mahony following a neat passage of play, with Hanrahan’s successful conversion making the score 20-9 after 52 minutes.

But despite their strength in numbers Munster could only add three more points from a Hanrahan penalty before the Dragons pair returned to the field.

But in a game of few chances it was more than enough, with neither side adding any other points as Munster saw out a comfortable victory.