THE defining and deciding moment of this ordinary Celtic League clash came on the hour mark, when Munster were awarded a dubious penalty on the Blues’ line, and Lee Thomas, the alleged miscreant, was sent to the sin bin. He was wrongly penalised for preventing the release of the ball following his own tackle and the Blues’ seven-point lead was seriously under threat courtesy of a poor decision from referee Mike Hall.

This sparked Cardiff. At long last they dug deep, sought the resolve that has been absent for so long and repelled some heavy Munster pressure, even claiming a converted try through No 8 Kort Schubert, his second of the match, to secure victory.

This victory could signal a turnaround in the Blues’ miserable season and will at least ensure that they will battle the rest of the season to try and secure European rugby next season. The Blues have experienced a miserably lean period of late, one of the lowest for any tenant, club or region, based at the famous Cardiff Arms Park.

They have languished at the wrong end of the table all season and with only five games remaining are in desperate need of a strong run to stand chance of qualification for next season’s Heineken Cup.

The Blues had been redundant for the past five weeks, with their last outing at home to Edinburgh best forgotten, and they were clearly thirsting for action.

Munster started the match second in the Celtic League with the Blues lying next to bottom, but the home side looked the slicker outfit, mainly due to the adroit handling and distribution skills of fly-half Nicky Robinson, who was playing his first match of the season following a debilitating glandular problem. And it was Robinson who opened the scoring after a bright and breezy start from the Blues, when he expertly slotted a 40m drop goal after some rousing driving work from Craig Quinnell and flanker Maama Molitika.

Munster responded immediately, working their way upfield through the probing of Mike Prendergast and Stephen Keogh to allow Paul Burke the opportunity of levelling matters with a smoothly-struck 30m penalty goal.

The Blues looked the stronger combination with Quinnell, clearly relishing the added responsibility of captaincy and Robin Sowden-Taylor, an all-action flanker, always first to the breakdown, and providing the continuity in their side’s play.

It was all hands to the pump for the Munster defence as the Blues forwards drove relentlessly, but it took a quick release from an attacking scrum to create the first try when an inside step from Robinson created space with the No 10 having both the strength and determination to crash over beneath the posts for centre Lee Thomas to comfortably add the conversion.

With the exception of Christian Cullen, Munster looked surprisingly uncertain and indecisive despite their impressive record. However, the lovely angles of running which he provided were not always picked up by his teammates. It seemed that when he left the field with an injured shoulder just before the interval that Munster’s chances went with him.

It was the Blues quick thinking that secured the second score when Deniol Jones charged down an attempted Prendergast clearance kick on the Munster line with the ever-present Schubert pouncing to score from the rebound. Thomas converted.

Burke reduced the Cardiff advantage when he slotted his second penalty just before the interval.

Thomas restored the 14-point home advantage with his second penalty when Gordon McIlwham was adjudged offside in front of his own posts and Munster were in need of some inspiration, and quickly.