Celtic League/ Cardiff Blues 15 Connacht 13: Connacht wing Matt Mostyn has been ruled out for up to a month to round off a frustrating weekend for coach Michael Bradley. Mostyn damaged ankle ligaments scoring what proved to be the game's only try after a mere 70 seconds, that was still not enough to secure a vital away win in the Magner's Celtic League.
Paul Warwick added eight points with the boot in the first half but his departure with a knee injury saw Connacht let a 13-6 lead slip at a rain-soaked Arms Park.
Mostyn is likely to miss the trip to Munster as well as back-to-back European Challenge Cup games against Montpellier. At least there was better news on Warwick and Brett Wilkinson who are both expected to make full recoveries from bruising.
Bradley said: "Matt looks almost certain to be out for four weeks or so . . . It's another injury we could well do without. Paul and Brett were more superficial injuries and should be fine for Munster."
The loss of Warwick, eight minutes into the second half, coincided with Connacht losing a grip on a game that was there to be won, and probably should have been won by half-time. The Australian delivered a scoring pass to match a clever angle from Mostyn who was injured in the process of scoring and limped off as Warwick converted.
His team missed his finishing skills as a series of chances went a begging in the first half, none more so than for his replacement, Conor McPhillips, who opted to allow Warwick's cross-field kick to bounce, only to see the ball skip off the greasy surface and into touch on the stroke of half- time. They were made to pay as former All Black Ben Blair kicked five penalties to leave Cardiff and Connacht, who collected a bonus point, level in the table.
Bradley said: "I thought we played well in the first half and created chances we really should have finished though Cardiff showed good goal-line defence. The second half was always going to be difficult in the conditions. They upped their performance and got the bounce of the ball in return. A few decisions didn't go our way
"There was a lot of frustration in the dressingroom after the game. This was always going to be a very close game and those penalties were crucial. I'm very happy we were competitive but frustrated we didn't get the rub of the green."
CARDIFF BLUES: B Blair; M Luveitasau, J Robinson, M Stcherbina, C Czekaj; N Robinson, W Evans; J Yapp, D Goodfield, S Roberts, B Davies, D Jones, S Morgan, X Rush (capt), R Shellard. Replacements: G Williams for D Goodfield, T James for M Luveitasau (both 67 mins); M Lewis for S Morgan (70 mins).
CONNACHT: D Riordan; M Mostyn, J Hearty, K Matthews, D Yapp; P Warwick, C Keane; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, B Sturgess, D Gannon, A Farley (capt), B O'Connor, J Muldoon, R Ofisa. Replacements: C McPhillips for Mostyn (5 mins): M McHugh for Warwick, C Rigney for O'Connor (both 48 mins): C O'Loughlin for Keane, J Forgarty for Flavin (both 60 mins); R Hogan for Wilkinson (both 63 mins).
Referee: N Patterson (Scotland).
