MAGNERS LEAGUE Connacht 12 Ospreys 19: THE OSPREYS showed their Magners League intent when they out-muscled Connacht with a dominant second-half display to record a deserved victory at the Sportsground last night.
It took Ospreys 40 minutes to find the necessary intensity against a gritty home side, but in the end, with two sin-binnings in the second half, Connacht did well to bag a bonus point.
Ospreys were rewarded after nine minutes from a Connacht turnover on the half-way line, and after a series of drives and several phases, outhalf Dan Biggar opted for the drop goal from inside the 22 to record the first points.
Jerry Collins tried to make his presence felt with a couple of bursting runs, but he did not have it all his own way, failing to control a pass in attack inside the 22, and giving Keatley his first chance to kick some points when he was penalised in the lineout.
Keatley struck the 20th minute effort well to level matters, and within three minutes he doubled Connacht’s score when the Ospreys were forced offside.
The Ospreys, however, responded early in the second half, with Biggar adding a 43rd-minute penalty to level the scores after some fine pressure from the backs forced a five-metre scrum on the Connacht line. With the visitors on the front foot, Biggar then stroked his side ahead after an infringement by Mike McComish.
Worse followed for the home side when scrumhalf Frank Murphy was yellow-carded. It proved the turning point. Gough caught from the lineout and the pack drove through relentlessly to the line with replacement hooker Hew Bennett claiming the touchdown. Biggar added the conversion to turn the game on its head.
Connacht’s forays into their opponents 22 were limited, but they were rewarded with two penalties. The first brought them within seven, but after James Hook made his introduction, he struck a 76th minute penalty that looked determined to deny the home side. However, Connacht were rewarded at the death when their persistence paid off – Keatley striking a penalty to give them a deserved point.
CONNACHT: G Duffy, B Tuohy, N Ta'asuo, K Matthews, F Carr, I Keatley, F Murphy, B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris, A Browne, B Upton, J Muldoon (capt), R Ofisa, M McComish. Replacements: J Hagan for Morris (16 mins), A Flavin for Cronin (70 mins). Sin-binned: Mike McComish; F Murphy.
OSPREYS: B Davies, J Vaughton, S Parker, J Spratt, N Walker, D Biggar, M Phillips. D Jones, R Hibbard, C Griffiths, I Gough, A Lloyd, J Collins, M Holah, R Jones (capt). Replacements: H Bennett for Hibbard (53 mins), P James for D Jones (53 mins), F Tiatia for Lloyd (58 mins), Tom Smith for Gough, J Hook for Biggar (65 mins), T Smith for Jones (71 mins). Sin-binned: A Lloyd.
Referee: Graham Knox(SRU).
