Connacht ended the latest round of GUINNESS PRO12 action in sixth place, digging deep in the end to see off the 14-man Newport Gwent Dragons in wet and muddy conditions at Rodney Parade.
The Dragons were up against it when their captain Rynard Landman was red carded in the 14th minute for an elbow-led challenge on Jack Carty as the Connacht out-half kicked downfield. Down to 14 men, the Welsh region showed their resilience and determination to stay in the game for the full 80 minutes.
Craig Ronaldson, Eoghan Masterson and replacement lock Michael Kearney all crossed for a Connacht side chasing their first win in five GUINNESS PRO12 games.
Carty and Darragh Leader combined to kick the westerners’ other 15 points as despite making hard work of it, they secured what could prove to be a vital victory in their push for Champions Cup qualification.
The doughty Dragons also notched three tries through winger Hallam Amos (2) and centre Jack Dixon, with Tom Prydie landing two conversions and two penalties.
Rodney Ah You was a late inclusion in the Connacht front row, taking over from Nathan White who injured himself in the warm-up. An early scrum penalty allowed Prydie to kick the Dragons into a fourth minute lead.
Connacht were not long in replying, rumbling up close to the try-line in the seventh minute before snappy passes from man-of-the-match John Cooney and Carty allowed the fit-again Ronaldson to evade a couple of tackles and crash over just to the left of the posts.
Carty converted Ronaldson’s second PRO12 try in as many games and added a penalty in between two pivotal moments for the Dragons. They lost full-back Jason Tovey to injury and then lock Landman was dismissed by referee Lloyd Linton for connecting with Carty’s head.
Carty recovered to send the resulting penalty wide from 30 metres out and he also missed a 19th minute effort, the wind playing a part in taking it off target.
The Dragons had a strong breeze behind them, but they fell 17-3 behind just three minutes later when young number 8 Masterson did really well to stretch for the line and ground the ball before it was booted away. It was his first PRO12 score.
Although Connacht were profiting from a solid scrum and lineout and a great service from scrum half Cooney, the Dragons remained dangerous when afforded space. Their back-line duly clicked into gear on 32 minutes as Dixon sucked in the Connacht midfield and Amos came from deep to break through a gap in the 22 and grab a five-pointer.
Connacht came under further pressure closing in on half-time and after they were pinged for not rolling away, Prydie stepped up to reduce the arrears to 17-11 at the break.
The conditions worsened on the restart. The Dragons forced the issue early on before Connacht responded well, eager replacement Tiernan O’Halloran looking solid under two garryowens before he threaded a kick in behind the Dragons defence.
O’Halloran came on for Carty with Ronaldson moving to out-half and Danie Poolman switching to centre and following a scrappy spell, full-back Leader fired over a successful penalty after the hosts were guilty of not rolling away.
Leader repeated the trick shortly afterwards, putting Connacht 23-11 clear entering the final quarter, only for the Dragons to dig their heels in. A sustained bout of pressure led to Dixon scrambling over on the right having quickly followed up on a Dorian Jones break.
Prydie’s conversion had the men of Gwent back in contention at just five points down, but Connacht’s third try arrived right on cue as Kearney blocked Amos’ attempted clearance kick near the right touchline and won the race to ground the loose ball.
Leader tagged on the conversion to put 12 points between the sides, however the Dragons snatched a late losing bonus point when Amos took advantage of a flatfooted Connacht defence to complete his brace.
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