Connacht 10-27 London Irish: Connacht received no favours in pursuit of topping Pool 1 as they lost 27-10 to London Irish in tonight's European Challenge Cup fixture at the Sportsground.
The score may flatter the visitors somewhat and Michael Bradley's side will rue not finishing off four clear try-scoring opportunities during the game.
Fullback Fionn Carr was involved in three try-scoring chances for Connacht but struggled with the all-important finish.
In the first competitive encounter between the two sides, London Irish took the early initiative with two early tries. The first came courtesy of a free after Connacht
scrumhalf Frank Murphy delayed his put-in against a wheeling scrum.
When Irish hacked the ball down field, fullback Carr did well to under pressure to claim possession, but after the big Irish pack drove over, they quickly fed it out wide and it was Elvis Seveali'i who crossed after nine minutes.
The second try five minutes later was even softer. Connacht had put in the hard yards and went through the phases to get to the visitors' line. The ball was spun from left to right before right wing Liam Bibo did well to control possession, but his attempted pass inside to an in-rushing Carr went forward, and England winger Topsy Ojo took advantage, breaking out down the blind before finding Seilala Mapusua who was able to run in the 10metre line untouched.
Connacht fought back with a score in the 17th minutes and trailed 12-7 at the break.
Frank Murphy made the incisive break up the blindside and found support in Liam Bibo who supplied Carr for the finish. Ian Keatley added the extras to reduce the arrears.
Irish came out fighting after the break and flanker Steffon Armitage set up a third Irish try with a break from a penalty kicked into touch, and Connacht, having stopped number eight Chris Hala'Ufa just shy of the line, missed a couple of first-up tackles as the ball was spun wide and Ojo ran over the line.
Peter Hewat added the conversion, and although Connacht pegged back the lead with a 53rd minute penalty, the London Irish outhalf cancelled that effort on 66 minutes.
With Connacht unable to take their chances they began to lose their shape and went
further behind when Ojo added his second to ensure Irish take pole position in the pool with another bonus point.
Connacht: F Carr, L Bibo, G Duffy, A Wynne, J Hearty, I Keatley, F Murphy, B Wilkinson, S Cronin, R Morris, M Swift, A Farley, R Ofisa, J O'Connor, J Muldoon (C).
Replacements: S Cronin for Flavin 55, R Loughney for Morris 57, R Morris for Wilkinson 58, A Browne for Swift 60m, C Rigney for Morris 66, A Dunne for Carr 68, T Nathan for Muldoon 74, K Campbell for Murphy 76.
London Irish: DArmitage, T Ojo, E Seveali'i, S Mapusua, S Tagicakibau, P Hewat, P Hodgson, A Corbisiero, J Buckland, T Lea'aetoa, N Kennedy, B Casey (cpt), R Thorpe, S Armitage, C Hala'Ufia.
Replacements, C Dermody for Lea'aetoa HT, ht, D Paice for Buckland 53, F Rautenback for Corbisiero 53, D Dangher for Thorpe 57, S Geraghty for Seveali'i 65, T Parker for Mapusua 66.
