Mont de Marsan won the strictly French affair against Bordeaux-Begles 20-13 at Stade Andre Moga but it was more about domestic bragging rights than really threatening the English domination of Pool 1.
The win took Mont de Marsan to five Pool points but still another five points adrift of leaders London Irish who have played a game less and meet Gloucester in the potentially decisive back-to-back group contests on successive weekends.
However, the win did bring to an end Mont de Marsan's 11-match tournament losing run - the worst by any French club in the competition - while also gaining a measure of revenge for Bordeaux-Begles' 17-12 win in the Top 14 last month with Raphael Ibanez's club now rooted to the foot of the table.
After a cagey opening half hour, in which Bordeaux's Lachie Munro kicked two penalty goals to one by Alexandre Douvesy, the match exploded into life with three tries in seven minutes.
Scrum half Arnaud Pic and right wing Jordan Beaulavon crossed for Mont de Marsan with Douvesy adding both conversions sandwiching full back Darly Domvo breaching the visiting defence and Munro converting for Bordeaux to trail by just four points at the break.
The next explosion, however, saw the visitors' Scottish international lock Scott Murray yellow carded and his side reduced to 14 men - although they held out until his return without paying any penalty on the scoreboard.
A deluge of replacements on both sides turned it into a stop-start affair with a second Douvesy penalty goal after 69 minutes the only further bit of scoring action as Mont de Marsan brought an end to their losing tournament run while Bordeaux had to be content with a losing bonus point.
