PRO 12 Connacht 13 Scarlets 11:CONNACHT REPAID an expectant crowd of 3,400 to the revamped Sportsground on Saturday when grabbing their second win on the trot in the RaboDirect Pro 12.
After a hard-fought narrow win in Treviso, Connacht had targeted this first home fixture to celebrate the opening of the Sportsground’s new terrace, and in the end they did just enough to see off the visiting Scarlets.
“Maybe the pressure got to us,” said coach Eric Elwood afterwards. “We lacked a bit of fluency in defence, we slipped off tackles, and didn’t play with the usual buzz. But at half-time we were still in the game, and thankfully key personnel got their hands on the ball, started to carry and give us go -forward ball.”
“In the end the character shone through and I am happy with the four points, but that’s as far it goes. We were not anywhere near our best, but we dug it out, got ourselves back into the game and thankfully we were able to squeeze over the line in the end.”
Despite ruling first phase possession, the Scarlets only led by 6-3 with Dan Newton posting two penalties. Connacht, having struggled to gain a foothold in the opening half, trailed by only three points with Matthew Jarvis converting one of three penalty attempts.
However the visitors pulled away in the second half with a converted try from Adam Shingler in the 47th minute before Connacht, led by George Naoupu, found a way back in the last 30 minutes.
Centre Henry Fa’afili, who looked strong in attack throughout, carved the space before offloading to Mark McCrea who crossed for a 54th minute try, which Jarvis converted.
When replacement Niall O’Connor potted a 67th minute penalty, Connacht grabbed the lead for the first time and they held on to claim the points.
CONNACHT: G Duffy; M McCrea, H Fa'afili, E Griffin, T O'Halloran; M Jarvis, F Murphy; R Loughney, A Flavin, R Ah You; M McCarthy, M Swift; J Muldoon, R Ofisa, G Naoupu. Replacements: E Reynecke for Flavin (52 mins), B Wilkinson for Loughney, N O'Connor for Jarvis (both 61 mins), TJ Anderson for Muldoon, P O'Donohoe for Murphy (both 68 mins).
SCARLETS: D Evans; L Williams, R Gomer-Davies, G Maule, L Williams; D Newton, R Tipuna; I Thomas (capt), E Phillips, R Thomas; A Shingler, D Day; R McCusker, J Turnbull, B Morgan. Replacements: A Thomas for Evans (ht), L Reed for Shingler, R Williams for Tipuna (both 55 mins), J Edwards for Morgan (60), P John for Thomas, W Adam for Gomer-Davies (both 69 mins), S Gardiner for R Thomas, K Myhill for Phillips (both 71 mins).
Referee: M Mitrea(Italy).
