Connacht 24 Ospreys 20: Connacht ended their Celtic League campaign on a high note by condemning the Ospreys to yet another away defeat at the Sportsground.
Rooted to the bottom of the table and with Heineken Cup qualification out of their reach, Connacht put in one of their best performances of the season to give retiring duo Matt Mostyn and Darren Yapp a winning send-off.
This was a very open encounter with both sides showing a commendable willingness to throw the ball wide and attack off multi-phase possession. Strangely the scoreboard remained untroubled until the 19th minute when Ofisa Treviranus scooted over for his first Magners League try.
His opposite number, Kristian Phillips, who became the youngest
player to start a Magners League game at 17 years and 250 days, had
done well up to then and Lyn
Jones' youthful selection certainly rattled the hosts at
times.
Former Wales and Lions centre Mark Taylor, in his last game before his retirement, was rock solid in defence and the visitors' fly-half Shaun Connor, who was making his 100th and final appearance for the Ospreys, enjoyed a lively duel with Connacht's Andy Dunne.
Dunne ended the first half on top though as he converted Treviranus' touchdown and landed an injury-time penalty after both number 10s had been off target with place kicks.
Connacht wasted little time in adding to their 10-0 interval lead, with centre Keith Matthews bursting through for the first of his two superbly-taken tries. Matthews ran some great angles throughout the game and with the Ospreys defence wilting a little, he got over again in the 62nd minute.
By that stage, Conor McPhillips had been dismissed for a straight arm challenge and both Marty Holah and Brett Wilkinson had spent time in the sin-bin.
The Ospreys dominated for a 10-minute spell, landing a penalty from Connor and a neatly finished try by Phillips.
But Matthews' second effort gave Connacht enough cushion to see out the win despite replacement half-backs Daniel Biggar and Martin Roberts inspiring a late Ospreys rally.
