A sweeping 75th-minute try, inspired by debutant Pita Ahki and finished off by captain John Muldoon, secured two bonus points for Connacht in a topsy-turvy GUINNESS PRO14 clash which ended in a 36-30 win for Cardiff Blues.
Although Kieran Keane’s men outscored the Blues by four tries to three at the Arms Park, they fell foul of referee Craig Evans’ whistle at crucial stages and 21 points via place-kicks, including five penalty goals, gave Cardiff the winning of the game.
Jarrod Evans’ 37th-minute penalty split the sides at the break (16-13), with Niyi Adeolokun’s intercept try cancelling out an earlier effort from Olly Robinson. Eoghan Masterson had replaced the sidelined Eoin McKeon in a late personnel change for Connacht.
Replacement hooker Shane Delahunt’s try from a 55th-minute maul kept the visitors in the hunt, but Cardiff sandwiched that with converted efforts from Matthew Morgan and 19-year-old man-of-the-match Owen Lane in what was an error-strewn but absorbing contest.
Cardiff had a comfortable 30-18 lead when Nick Williams’ yellow card led to a nervy final ten minutes. Connacht crossed twice late on through Delahunt, from another well-executed drive, and skipper John Muldoon to cut the deficit back to 33-30.
However, the brace of bonus points proved to be the province’s only reward on a chilly night, as replacement Gareth Anscombe’s well-struck penalties after 73 and 80 minutes kept the hosts in front and saw them leapfrog Connacht into fourth place in Conference A.
The westerners, who came into this round 9 fixture on the back of four successive wins in all competitions, had dominated proceedings in the early stages – but only had a Jack Carty penalty to show for it. A muscular scrum earned that place-kick in the Cardiff 22, while Tom Farrell made a couple of promising early runs from his centre berth.
An unfortunate slip by Carty in the Connacht 22 allowed his opposite number Evans to kick Cardiff level on the quarter hour mark, and they followed up a couple of minutes later with flanker Robinson’s converted try, the product of some slick handling on the left wing by Macauley Cook, Lane and Wilis Halaholo.
That was the difference between the sides as Cardiff were clinical with their scoring opportunities and Connacht, often ponderous in attack, struggled to build on what was a solid start to the match. Evans converted and added a penalty for a 13-3 lead, after Connacht were pinged at the breakdown.
That 10-point deficit was erased thanks to a quick-fire scoring blitz between the 29th and 33rd minutes. Winger Adeolokun made it two tries in two appearances by intercepting Halaholo’s pass and racing over unopposed from 40 metres out. Carty converted and landed a subsequent penalty for 13-all.
Frustratingly, another breakdown infringement allowed Evans to right-foot Cardiff back in front before the interval. The Connacht pack exerted all the early pressure on the resumption, winning a scrum penalty on halfway and then two more penalties – from a maul that saw Masterson go close and a five-metre scrum – and also a free-kick.
Finlay Bealham had the edge on young Cardiff loosehead Corey Domachowski, so much so that the Blues management took him off after he gave away that second scrum penalty, five metres out. Nonetheless, a 50-50 call at a reset scrum went Cardiff’s way with the set piece wheeling around and the referee singling out Denis Buckley as the guilty party.
There was a growing sense that it was not going to be Connacht’s night when centre Eoin Griffin saw yellow for an attempted intercept that was deemed a deliberate knock-on. Cardiff swiftly took advantage when full-back Morgan scrambled over to the right of the posts for replacement out-half Anscombe to convert.
A block by former Munster and Ulster back rower Williams ruled out an Anscombe try before Delahunt spun off the back of a maul to finish smartly in the right corner, as the hour mark approached. Carty’s touchline conversion fell just short but it was back to a five-point game.
Teenage winger Lane was next on the scoresheet, following up on Anscombe’s half-break to roll his way over the line and give the Blues some breathing space with a 12-point buffer. In the absence of Williams who was sin-binned for an off-the-ball incident, Connacht used their maul to tee up Delahunt’s second try of the night in the right corner.
The scores kept coming in an eventful final quarter as a brilliant Anscombe penalty from just inside halfway punished a high tackle by Quinn Roux. Connacht responded with the try of the game, Kiwi replacement Pita Ahki using his power and pace to evade four defenders on a thrilling break out of his 22 before linking with Farrell who was hauled down short. The ball was quickly recycled and shifted out to the right where Muldoon cut in closer to the posts for Steve Crosbie to convert.
However, Wales international Anscombe had the final say as he lofted another penalty over from just inside the Connacht 10-metre line, sealing the Blues’ first season’s double over Connacht since the 2013/14 campaign.
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