Connacht Lose Momentum As Ospreys Triumph In Galway

Connacht lost crucial momentum at the start of the second half as they went down 26-20 to the Ospreys in an entertaining Guinness PRO14 encounter at the Sportsground.

The losing bonus point edges Andy Friend’s men back into second place in Conference B, but the win looked to be there for the taking when they led 17-5 at half-time.

Having gone behind to George North’s early try, Connacht gradually gained the upper hand with converted tries from Alex Wootton and Paul Boyle putting them 12 points clear.

However, the Ospreys, who last won in Ireland against Connacht in September 2016, were the better team after the break as they recovered impressively from captain Justin Tipuric’s sin-binning.

Mat Protheroe and player-of-the-match Rhys Webb (2) both touched down, with the latter’s 67th-minute maul effort securing the bonus point for Toby Booth’s side.

A forward pass from Conor Fitzgerald prevented the busy Wootton from touching down early on, and instead it was the Ospreys who hit the front in the eighth minute.

Dan Lydiate’s charge-down, coupled with a strong counter ruck, allowed them to build pressure, and some neat interplay between North, Tipuric and Dan Evans ended with the winger crossing for an unconverted try.

The Welsh outfit soon gobbled up ground through Sam Parry, via a short lineout move, and Rhys Davies – only from John Porch and Wootton to rip the ball free.

As Connacht hunted down their elusive first try, Owen Watkin did well to deny Wootton in the left corner, but it was a case of third time lucky for the former Ireland Sevens international in the 29th minute.

A Kieran Marmion tackle dislodged the ball from Keiran Williams’ grasp, allowing Fitzgerald to dart downfield unopposed and send the supporting Wootton over for a seven-pointer.

With Wales prop Rhodri Jones coughing up scrum penalties, Connacht went for the jugular approaching the interval. Tipuric’s maul offence earned him a yellow, and Boyle brilliantly barged over from Marmion’s inside pass.

Fitzgerald’s conversion extended the lead to 12 points, yet the 14-man Ospreys replied in terrific fashion. Protheroe raid over for a timely seven-pointer, having sparked a fleet-footed move down the right involving North and Williams.

Stephen Myler also converted his half-back partner Webb’s 51st-minute sidestepping score from a close-in maul, before Fitzgerald made it 20-19 by punishing a Lydiate offside from the tee.

Then it was the Ospreys’ turn again to force the issue, narrowly missing out on a maul try before a messy series of five-metre scrums, under referee Frank Murphy’s watch, ate up the clock.

However, a well-supported Webb was unstoppable from a subsequent lineout drive in the left corner. Myler converted for good measure, ensuring a fourth straight home defeat for Connacht in all competitions.

Giving his reaction afterwards, Connacht head coach Friend said: “Massive disappointment. As I just said to them (the players), at half-time I thought we were doing really well. I don’t think we started that well. I thought our second 20 minutes of the first half was good.

“To go in 17-5 at half-time, with them having a man in the bin, we said, ‘listen, look, the start of the second half is really important’. Instead of us scoring, we give away a couple of silly penalties and then they’re touching down six minutes into the second half.

“I don’t know what happened there, we just took our foot off the pedal. The Ospreys got momentum, they’re a good football side, we knew that. But I thought we put them in a spot where we needed to close them out and we didn’t, so we paid the ultimate penalty.”