Desperate Connacht must do away with the Reivers

Celtic League: Those who would hope Connacht's demise would come about by natural causes might rub their hands when they look at the province's away record over the last 12 months. As they face into tonight's Celtic League match against Border Reivers at Netherdale most will look at Connacht's statistics and wince a little.

Sitting at the bottom of the league table, all the team's three wins in the competition this season have come at home, while on the road they have lost nine matches in succession since beating Edinburgh 16-13 at Murrayfield in March, 2005.

Michael Bradley and his team have accumulated just two league points away from home. The no-win record away for an entire year will particularly hurt and now the team find themselves in a position they probably don't entirely deserve.

The last match against Leinster in Donnybrook was one they might have snatched and while Leinster have been accused of being erratic, so too have Connacht acquired a difficulty with consistency.

"It's a combination of things," says former player and current manager Tim Allnutt. "Yes, we have been inconsistent away from home. We've struggled to put two performances together.

"In the Ospreys game and the game against Leinster, we were unlucky. Perhaps we are a young team. Inexperienced. In certain games at certain stages we have been unable to finish teams off. It's an inability to put performances back to back and get a run going."

The Scottish side are playing their first home match in the league since beating Cardiff Blues 26-23 at Netherdale at the beginning of January, although their only victory in their last seven encounters with Irish opposition was 17-15 over Connacht in Galway last September.

While that statistic indicates something of interest, it actually says little. With Munster, Leinster and Ulster occupying the first three places on the league table, it's hardly surprising Borders haven't won against an Irish side since the autumn of 2005.

The two teams have met seven times in league and cup with Connacht having the edge by five wins to two. Connacht has also won twice in their three previous visits to Netherdale.

"We just have to tackle it game by game," says Allnutt. "Everything is important at this stage of the season and we know we owe Borders one. The confidence is not too dead. We have played well and against Leinster we let the match get away from us."

While the side have had their fair share of injuries, Allnutt is not about to look for excuses outside of Connacht not performing.

"We've had injuries," he says. "But we don't have internationals leaving the squad at weekends. So it's an even keel. We are not looking for excuses and we are not making excuses. We have underperformed at certain stages of the season and there is no getting away from that."

For all the doom and gloom of the away record and league position, Connacht still harbour hopes of earning a European Cup place for next year. To do that they must finish among the top three Irish teams, a remote possibility, or win the European Challenge Cup. They face Newcastle Falcons next Friday in Kingston Park Stadium in the quarter-finals of the competition, which makes this week's performance more important than ever.

"Qualification for the Heineken Cup is still attainable," maintains Allnutt. "If we get qualification that would be a successful season for us."

With 28-year-old hooker John Fogarty, who displaced Bernard Jackman last year to become first choice hooker, signing a new two-year deal with the Irish province for his third season and loosehead prop Ray Hogan also agreeing a new one-year deal, Connacht may be struggling now but the commitment remains.