Edinburgh 24 Connacht 19:THERE WAS no repeat of last year's eight-try mauling in Edinburgh last evening. Ultimately the hosts took the spoils, but Connacht once again showed their continuing improvement in their away form, taking another bonus point – their third on the road this season.

Connacht enjoyed the better of the opening-half exchanges, yet found themselves level at the break as Edinburgh wrested control in the final 10 minutes with Chris Paterson grabbing all his side’s points. And when the home side maintained their stranglehold after the break to open up a 21-10 lead, it seemed Edinburgh were poised to finish off comfortably.

However Connacht regained the initiative to come within five points through Ian Keatley’s boot and in the final minutes they were still attacking the Edinburgh line until a knock-on halted the last play of an end-to-end contest.

Connacht coach Eric Elwood said while they had the opportunities to win the game but lacked composure to make it count, it was another positive step for his side.

“This has always been a difficult place to come and given the results in the last couple of years, we are taking the positives. Considering the number of players we have missing, the young players certainly put their hands up for selection.”

Left wing Brian Tuohy was the hero of the opening half for Connacht, posting two tries on his first return to Magners League action this season. He proved the ultimate finisher as Connacht demonstrated their willingness to recycle, looking more comfortable and penetrative with ball in hand.

Although Connacht lost Eoin Griffin early on, their scrum soon took control. A turnover in their opponents’ 22 provided the platform for the opening score. Mike McCarthy and Johnny O’Connor initially made the hard yards and a quick recycle saw Tuohy run in from 10 metres to finish off in the left corner.

In the bitterly cold conditions Connacht continued with their attacking game. A counter-attack with some slick handling from Gavin Duffy and Keatley set up the second try on 19 minutes and from Miah Nikora’s well-judged cross field kick, Tuohy claimed possession and score.

Nikora was unfortunate to miss both touchline conversions – the second bouncing off the cross bar – but it shook the hosts out of their lethargy and they immediately responded with a penalty from the reliable Chris Paterson. The fullback injected pace into the Edinburgh back line and a missed tackle in Connacht’s midfield enabled the veteran international to run in for a 32nd-minute try, which he converted.

Two penalties immediately after the restart put the hosts in front for the first time before they struck for a second try. After a driving maul a quick reverse pass from Jim Cairns enabled Tim Vizzer to step inside the cover and race clear from 20 metres to touch down, with Paterson missing the conversion.

Although Connacht struggled at times in the face of a well organised defence, they started to make inroads with Johnny O’Connor and Wilkinson dynamic in driving forward. The reward was three successive penalties from leading points scorer Keatley which reduced the arrears to 24-19 by the 70th minute. With Edinburgh captain Roddy Grant yellow carded, it set up a tense final 10 minutes.

Two minutes from time Connacht were camped 10 metres out with a penalty which they opted to scrum. Edinburgh held out before a Connacht knock-on ended the visitors’ hopes.

EDINBURGH: C Paterson, J Thompson, B Cairns, J Houston, T Visser, D Blair, G Laidlaw, K Traynor, A Kelly, D Young, C Hamilton, F McKenzie, N Talei, R Grant (cpt), S McInally. Replacements, S Newlands for Netani (36,), G Cross for Young (HT), S Turnbull for Hamilton (64).

CONNACHT: G Duffy, S Monaghan, E Griffin, K Matthews, B Tuohy, M Nikora, F Murphy, B Wilkinson, D Murphy, J Hagan, M Swift, M McCarthy, A Browne, J OConnor, J Muldoon (cpt). Replacements: I Keatley for Griffin (9m), D Rogers for Hagan (56m), T Nathan for Monaghan (58m), C Willis for Murphy (63m), b Upton for Browne (66m).

Replacements not used: R Loughney, D Rogers, R Sweeney, B Upton, M McComish, C Willis, I Keatley, T Nathan.

Referee: David Jones (WRU).