Connacht returned to winning ways with a narrow 27-23 Magners League victory over Edinburgh at the Sportsground after their shock defeat to Aironi a week ago.
In a battle of the bottom-half sides, tries by Fionn Carr (two), Gavin Duffy and a penalty try guided the Irish province to victory.
Although Edinburgh battled back with scores from flanker Scott Newlands and centre James King, plus 13 points from the boot of fly-half Greg Laidlaw, it ultimately wasn't enough to garner victory.
Looking to extend their winning home run, Connacht got off to the perfect start when winger Carr touched down in the opening seconds, Keatley missing the conversion.
Despite the shock of that early score, Edinburgh replied immediately through a Laidlaw penalty. And the away side then took the lead when Newlands powered over, Laidlaw adding the extras.
But Keatley responded with a three-pointer before Edinburgh extended their advantage with a converted try from King.
In a breathless first period, Connacht hit back once again when the referee awarded a penalty try, Keatley kicking the extra two points.
It was to get worse for the Scottish team as centre Nick De Luca was sin-binned and the hosts capitalised as Carr scampered over to make the score 22-17 at the break.
An incredible first period was followed by a disappointing second.
It started well enough when Laidlaw closed the gap to two points, but the crowd had to wait until the hour mark before Connacht could secure their bonus-point through full-back Duffy, Keatley converting.
Another penalty from the Edinburgh stand-off reduced the arrears but despite their best efforts, they couldn't force victory.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Tries: Carr 2, Duffy, Penalty
Cons: Keatley 2
Pens: Keatley
For Edinburgh:
Tries: King, Newlands
Cons: Laidlaw 2
Pens: Laidlaw 3
Connacht:15 Gavin Dufffy, 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Troy Nathan, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Ray Ofisa, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 Andrew Browne, 5 Bernie Upton, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Ronan Loughney.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Brett Wilkinson, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Mike McComish, 20 John Muldoon, 21 Mark Dolan, 22 Eoin Griffin, 23 Shane Monahan.
Edinburgh: 15 Jim Thompson, 14 Simon Webster, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 James King, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Denton, 7 Scott Newlands, 6 Fraser McKenzie, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Scott MacLeod, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andrew Kelly (capt), 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Alun Walker, 17 Lewis Niven, 18 Robin Hislop 19 Steven Turnbull, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 David Blair, 22 Nick De Luca, 23 Lee Jones.
Referee: Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Comments
Be the first to comment on this story..