But Francis Saili crossed the whitewash for Munster after the break and Ian Keatley booted two pivotal penalties - including one five minutes from time - to secure a nervy 16-13 triumph.
That moves Munster into the GUINNESS PRO12 top six as they now lie just four points behind fourth place with seven games to go.
Against Treviso, the two decisive second-half penalties came from the scrum and with playing conditions not necessarily conducive to expansive rugby, Foley was pleased with how his team coped.
"Underfoot conditions were appalling, it was a tough game and it was probably easier to play into the wind in the first half," said Foley.
"Treviso didn't do anything unexpected, they get access to territory through penalties and they have a very strong maul, if you're not allowed to compete on the ground then you have to suck it and see.
"We just needed to keep on running hard at them and we came away with a couple of good tries for the effort.
"We needed to look after our own game, play off that platform and we got a couple of penalties through our scrum in the second half."
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Guinness PRO12 Munster News
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