Jack Carty kicked 20 points in a man-of-the-match performance as much-changed Connacht saw off Newcastle Falcons on a 25-10 scoreline at the Sportsground.
Part of a back-line that included three 21-year-olds, Jack Carty fired over penalties after 6, 16 and 38 minutes to give the westerners a 9-3 interval lead, with Craig Willis notching the Falcons’ lone response.
Carty’s fourth penalty goal was cancelled out by a 56th-minute maul try from lock Will Witty as Dean Richards’ men got right back in contention.
This European Challenge Cup round 3 tie was finely balanced as Carty knocked over two more penalties, either side of a yellow card for young centre Rory Parata. But Newcastle replacement Tom Catterick missed the resulting penalty and Danie Poolman’s well-worked try – six minutes from time – put Connacht out of reach.
Pat Lam fielded a particularly youthful squad on the night and they showed composure beyond their years as the province pushed seven points clear at the top of Pool 1, ahead of next weekend’s trip to the north east of England.
Second row Aly Muldowney captained injury-hit Connacht in the absence of Tiernan O’Halloran who had to withdraw beforehand with a calf strain. The versatile Matt Healy, who had stepped in at scrum half against Cardiff Blues, moved to full-back with Poolman reintroduced on the wing.
Connacht showed early intent to move the ball, probing for openings out wide with 21-year-old scrum half Caolin Blade and Poolman both looking lively. An offside against Newcastle, straight in front of their posts, saw Carty open the scoring in the sixth minute.
The confident number 10 increased his influence with some accurate passing and tackling. Following a clumsy challenge on Healy, Carty’s crisply-struck penalty from the 10-metre line made it 6-0.
Although the hosts’ scrum got on top, they could not profit from a series of visits to the Newcastle 22 including a decent mauling opportunity. The Falcons, who attached mainly through their strongly-built forwards, got off the mark with a penalty from the 20-year-old Willis.
Carty’s third successful penalty, this time from the right after a clear offside from Falcons centre Chris Harris, closed out the scoring at the end of a rather scrappy first half.
With their Tongan scrum half Tane Takulua to the fore, Newcastle took advantage of a missed tackle from Muldowney before flanker Sean O’Brien, on his home debut, won a ruck penalty for the home side.
Good work from Parata and his centre partner Peter Robb then forced a penalty in Newcastle territory and a fine kick from Carty extended the lead to nine points. Connacht had a let-off straight from the restart as Willis missed a kickable effort.
The Falcons were held up from a tricky grubber kick as Connacht lock Ultan Dillane had to scramble back towards his try-line, with the resulting five-metre scrum seeing Alex Rogers infringe under pressure from Nathan White.
However, Newcastle remained the front foot and from a penalty sent to the corner, Mouritz Botha’s lineout take set up a determined maul that eventually saw Witty crash over. Willis tagged on a terrific touchline conversion to make it a two-point game.
Carty missed a long range penalty attempt on the hour mark, but he had the distance and the accuracy just two minutes later as Lam’s charges reasserted themselves at 15-10.
Newcastle should have hit back after Parata saw yellow for what referee Thomas Charabas deemed was a deliberate knock-on, but replacement Catterick was off target with the resulting place-kick.
Carty showed him how it is done with a cracking kick from the 10-metre line, pushing the margin out to eight points, and 14-man Connacht sewed up the result with their only try of the night.
Robb, who had an impressive outing overall, was prominent in a multi-phase attack as the province barged back up into the Newcastle 22. Blade utilised quick ball from ruck to ruck and after Dillane was stopped short, Poolman caught Newcastle flat with a neat grubber kick and finish out wide.
The left-sided conversion was successfully negotiated by Carty, the 15-point buffer rewarding the ambition shown in attack and some key defensive plays, prior to the try, from the likes of George Naoupu, Robb and Niyi Adeolokun.
Unfortunately after Parata returned from the sin-bin, replacement Dave McSharry, who was making his comeback from injury, had to go off with suspsected concussion. The tireless Blade typified Connacht’s spirit, engineering a late attack that almost ended with Adeolokun scoring from a Shane O’Leary cross-field kick.
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