Connacht too strong for Zebre

Try for Connacht: John Muldoon

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• Connacht
• Zebre

Connacht got their Heineken Cup campaign off to a winning start on Saturday with a 19-10 win over Zebre at Stadio XXV Aprile on Saturday.

Connacht were made to work hard but managed to grind to victory in Parma.

Dan Parks and Daniel Halangahu exchanged penalties in the early stages as both sides wrestled for the upper hand in terms of possession and territory in what began as a very even contest.

But with clear-cut opportunities at a premium, Halangahu was guilty of straying wide of the posts with his next attempt and Parks made him pay with two more penalties before the break, the latter coming after Mauro Bergamasco was also sinbinned for a dangerous tackle.

And, although they failed to register any points in the opening ten minutes of the second half when they had a one-man advantage, Connacht really upped the intensity and their forwards in particular began to exert their authority on the game.

Parks, who was making his Heineken Cup debut for the Irishmen, continued his flawless kicking display with a fourth penalty on the hour mark before the visitors finally made the crucial breakthrough with a try several minutes later.

Flanker John Muldoon crashed over underneath the posts to ensure Connacht's relentless pressure was rewarded and Parks added the conversion to give them a commanding 19-3 lead.

The hosts did respond with a try of their own through replacement Filippo Ferrarini in the final ten minutes but they were unable to mount a serious comeback and Connacht held on to make a winning start to only their second ever Heineken Cup campaign.

The scorers:

For Zebre:
Try: Ferrarini
Con: Halangahu
Pen: Halangahu

For Connacht:
Try: Muldoon
Con: Parks
Pens: Parks 4

Yellow cards: Bergamasco (Zebre -40th min)

Zebre: 15 Daniel Halangahu, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tito Tebaldi,8 Dries van Schalkwyk, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Nicola Belardo, 5 Josh Sole, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Luca Redolfini, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Carlo Fazzari, 19 Mike Van Vuuren, 20 Filippo Ferrarini, 21 Luca Martinelli, 22 Ruggero Trevisan, 23 Leonardo Sarto.

Connacht: 15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Tiernan O'Halloran, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Nathan White, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Dennis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Rodney Ah You, 18 Ronan Loughney, 19 Dave Gannon, 20 Johnny O'Connor, 21 Dave Moore, 22 Miah Nikora, 23 Mata Fifita.

Venue: Stadio XXV Aprile
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees: Wayne Davies (Wales), Greg Morgan (Wales)
Television match official: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Timekeeper: Giorgio Maggi (Italy)
Assessor: Michel Lamoulie (France)
Citing commissioner: Wade Dooley (England)