GARRYOWEN retained their unbeaten record at Dooradoyle but after the manner in which their pack was outplayed for much of the second half, they will find it difficult to maintain the momentum in the weeks and months ahead.

Their limitations up front were cruelly exposed and Buccaneers could be deemed unlucky to have left Dooradoyle with nothing more than a bonus point to show for their efforts.

Buccs are no strangers to this particular venue and were always going to present a mighty challenge for the league's second placed side.

Conor Kilroy for Garryowen and Tom Cregan exchanged early penalties before Kilroy forced his way over for a try that he converted himself.

Winger Adam O'Loughlin finished off a fine attack to stretch Garryowen's advantage to 12 points but they were to be held scoreless for the remaining 50 minutes.

Cregan landed a penalty on either side of half-time for the visitors whose forward supremacy saw them dominate almost the entire second half.

However, they overplayed the forward card, probably because they lacked confidence in the three-quarters' ability to unlock the Garryowen defence, and the home side were allowed to scramble through to an unconvincing victory.

GARRYOWEN A Finn; A O'Loughlin, K Hartigan, P Devlin, C O'Boyle; C Kilroy, G Hurley; R Callaghan, D Varley, F Pala'amo, M Melbourne, D Sheehan, P Neville, P Malone, J O'Sullivan Subs R Brosnan for Pala'amo, 30 mins; F McKenna for Sheehan, 75 mins

BUCCANEERS T Cregan; C Lavelle, P O'Sullivan, W Wallace, S Brady; G O'Grady, C O'Loughlin; M Cahill, G Halligan, B Gilligan, D Gannon, B Buckley, A Hanley, C Hartigan, D Quinlan Referee M Kilgore (IRFU)