Connacht go down again
Connacht fall to their seventh successive defeat in all competitions, as Ospreys march on at the top of the RaboDirect Pro12 table.
Connacht fall to their seventh successive defeat in all competitions, as Ospreys march on at the top of the RaboDirect Pro12 table.
After a tight opening period, the Ospreys showed their class in the second half as they ran out comfortable winners at the Showground, leaving Connacht in disarray after seven straight defeats.
The first ten minutes of the contest saw the visitors start the better, as they took the game to Connacht early on.
However, it was the home side who had the first chance to take the lead soon after, but a missed Miah Nikora penalty kept the sides level.
The windy conditions weren't favouring the kickers, but Nikora made no mistake a few minutes later from another penalty, as Connacht began to play some rugby of their own.
They now looked to be in the ascendancy at this point, but they conceded a sloppy penalty midway through the half, which Matthew Morgan slotted over to bring the sides level.
Both sides had some good phases of play after that, but both made basic errors in equal measure approaching half time.
Ospreys did manage to get an all-important try before the break though, when Rhys Webb fed Morgan who dived over. He added the extras to leave them in the driving seat.
Connacht kept in touch with a Miah Nikora penalty to leave four between them at the interval.
The home side had the benefit of an extra man for ten minutes at the start of the second half when Ian Gough was sin-binned for Ospreys, but failed to register on the score board.
Indeed that was to cost Connacht, as the visitors scored another try with twenty minutes to play, substitute Sonny Parker scoring immediately after being introduced. Morgan added the conversion, and the game looked over.
That's how it was to finish, leaving Ospreys in pole position in the RaboDirect Pro12 standings, with Connacht languishing near the foot of the table, as they failed to gain even a losing bonus point.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Pens: Nikora 2
For Ospreys:
Tries: Morgan, Parker
Cons: Morgan 2
Pens: Morgan
Connacht:
15 Gavin Duffy (c), 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Dave McSharry, 12 Henry Fa'afili, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Paul O'Donohoe, 8 Ray Ofisa, 7 John Muldoon, 6 TJ Anderson, 5 George Naoupu, 4 Dave Gannon, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Stewart Maguire, 19 Mike Kearney, 20 Eoghan Grace, 21 Frank Murphy, 22 Niall O'Connor, 23 Mark McCrea.
Ospreys:
15 Barry Davies, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Matthew Morgan, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Chauncey O'Toole, 6 Tom Smith (c), 5 James King, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Joe Rees, 19 James Goode, 20 George Stowers, 21 Tom Isaacs, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Hanno Dirksen.
Referee: Andrew McMenemy