Ruaridh Jackson inspired the Glasgow Warriors to one of their greatest triumphs to boost their quest to claim a home tussle in the Pro12 semi-finals.
The Scotland playmaker rattled up 22 points to propel the bonus-point hosts back to the top of the table and also severely dent the title hopes of the former European champions.
The home fans could not believe their eyes as they watched their heroes surge ahead after only 24 seconds.
Having received Jackson’s kick-off, Munster ambitiously tried to flash the ball out wide.
The alert Sean Maitland read the situation perfectly as he grabbed a floated pass out of the air and cruised 40 metres for the try, easily shrugging off a marker on the way.
Jackson then made the tricky conversion look simple.
The rattled visitors wasted no time in mounting a positive response.
It was centre Casey Lalala who was in the right place at the right time in the wake of a series of patiently executed phases.
Old stager Ronan O’Gara added the extras.
Glasgow were fortunate to survive another stinging raid featuring Doug Howlett and Felix Jones.
The men from Limerick were looking ominously powerful at this stage.
Tempers on both sides were also being tested by some very puzzling and inconsistent verdicts from Welsh referee Leighton Hodges.
The confidence level of Munster was underlined when O’Gara spurned a pot at goal to set up a penalty line-out.
Their gamble paid off in controversial circumstances as Dave Kilcoyne barged over for their second try while at least three defenders were being held illegally.
O’Gara made it a seven pointer, only to see Glasgow grab another interception score, this time by scrum-half Niko Matawalu.
Jackson steadied the jitters even more with an angled penalty. He repeated the dose three minutes before the break to set up a tense second half.
Glasgow held the advantage in terms of possession and territory after the restart, but they were set back on their heels by the latest in a long list of strange decisions by Hodges.
This time Stuart Hogg was tackled by a Munster player who was at least 10 metres offside, yet Glasgow were penalised for failing to release.
And the stage was left clear for O’Gara to claw back three points.
But the home fans were on their feet in the 56th minute when John Barclay powered through the middle to pave the way for Jackson to dart over from close range, and he followed up with the conversion.
He then clipped over another penalty to stretch the gap to 13 points.
Even better was to come for the Warriors as sub Mark Bennett crashed through with his first touch of the ball, leaving Jackson with a conversion formality.
Hogg then rubbed in Glasgow’s superiority with a stunning solo touchdown, with Duncan Weir finding the target from the touchline.
Howlett went over for Munster in the dying seconds with Ian Keatley converting.
But there was still time for Barclay to romp in for Glasgow’s sixth, with Weir bringing up the half century.