Connacht Seize Control In Second Half

Eoin Griffin and Gavin Duffy both crossed the Dragons’ whitewash in the second half as Connacht recorded a stirring comeback win at the Sportsground.

Nathan Williams’ first try for the Welsh region was the decisive score of the first half as Darren Edwards’ men went in at the break leading 13-3.

Eric Elwood had demanded better discipline from his Connacht side after their loss at Edinburgh last weekend, but they gave some soft penalties to the Dragons.

Tovey kicked two of his four penalty attempts, while Niall O’Connor’s right boot was responsible for Connacht’s only points until Eoin Griffin touched down coming up to the hour.

The converted try lifted the westerners considerably and with Matthew Jarvis also adding the extras to Duffy’s touchdown, the four-point margin was enough to seal Connacht’s third win in four league games.

Tovey watched his first penalty attempt bounce back off a post but from a similar position, he gave the Dragons a seventh minute lead.

In wet conditions, O’Connor levelled for Connacht with a well-struck penalty from distance and Ray Ofisa and Henry Fa’afili began to wield some influence in the loose.

O’Connor was off target from a central penalty, and the necessary penetration was lacking as both sides struggled to build momentum in attack.

With the wind proving a factor, O’Connor turned down a kickable penalty in the 23rd minute and some good approach work was foiled by an accidental offside.

The Dragons were patient and struck impressively for a 30th minute try. Matthew Pewtner popped up in the middle on an angled run that took him past Ethienne Reynecke, and the pressure eventually told as prop Williams crashed over.

Tovey converted and added a penalty after his initial break, with Connacht suddenly 13-3 adrift – it would have been worse had the young out-half not miscued a late shot at the posts.

The second half stuttered along, with Brian Tuohy the most threatening of the home backs as they tried to hit back at the Welshmen.

Suddenly, replacement half-backs Paul O’Donohoe and Jarvis set the Connacht attack in motion, terrific hands down the short side seeing Griffin link with Tiernan O’Halloran and gather the return pass to score in the corner.

Jarvis followed up with a brilliant touchline conversion to close the gap down to three points and with the 3,706-strong crowd raising the decibel level, Connacht duly snaffled a second try.

Duffy sniped through with ball in hand and after good continuity from the forwards, O’Halloran’s inviting pass put his captain diving over in the corner.

Jarvis again had the accuracy from the left touchline. The 21-year-old missed a subsequent penalty, but the Dragons’ challenge had petered out as Connacht ended the game on the front foot.

Speaking after the game, head coach Elwood said: “We’re happy with the result again but a poor first half, never really got into the game and we lacked a bit of intensity in attack and defense and didn’t really show a buzz about ourselves.

“We went in 10 points down deservedly at half-time, then we got the first try and it visibly gave the lads a lift, gave the supporters a lift and they got behind us, we kept playing and got the second score.”

He added: “We made a few changes, got on top in the set piece and I thought the lads who came on did exceptionally well.

“All in all we’re happy with the result, a bit disappointed with some of the performance but fair play to the lads for showing great character to come back to win the game.”