Jack Crowley scored 15 points as Munster beat Connacht 30-24 at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park despite Alex Nankivell's red card.
Munster were 18-5 ahead at half-time in Castlebar, with Tom Ahern and Craig Casey, back from knee surgery, both scoring tries.
Centre Nankivell was sent off in the 25th minute for a dangerous tackle on Connacht captain Sian Prendergast, who had to be carried off on a stretcher.
Kaolin Blade opened the scoring in the second half, adding to Sean Jansen's earlier goal to complete the game with two tries for the Western side.
Josh Ioan eventually scored four tries apiece – Connacht's substitute Dylan Tierney-Martin cancelled out a fifth try late in the game – but Crowley and Diarmuid Barron had both crossed before that point and Munster had secured five vital points in the BKT United Rugby Championship.
It was the first professional Connacht match to be played in Mayo, let alone at the home ground of Mayo GAA, and it attracted a Connacht record attendance of 27,580.
Man of the Match Crowley converted a free-kick in the sixth minute and then passed to second-row striker Ahern, who fired into the left corner of the net.
Jansen fired home from a clever pass by Finley Bilham to cut the deficit to 8-5, then Calvin Nash made a stunning run past three defenders to put Casey out of bounds and Crowley finished off the attack.
Just three minutes later Nankivell collided with Prendergast's head in the ruck, leaving Munster with 14 men and the hosts without their captain.
Bandi Aki and Finn Treacy combined to put the Blade through in the 44th minute, cancelling out Crowley's second three-point penalty.
Munster continued to find ways to respond, with Crowley scoring from a superb pass from Casey and his extra men making it 25-12.
Barron dug in before Jansen hit the hour mark, capitalising on a mistake by Tadhg Byrne.
Connacht had their chances as the game wound down quickly, but substitute JJ Hanrahan missed Ioane's effort and Aki's foul in the previous ruck prevented Tierney-Martin from scoring.
With Conor Murray making his 200th appearance and Gene Klein intercepting a crucial lineout, Munster held on despite Billy Scannell's late yellow card leaving them with 13 men.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
