Matt Healy took his enviable European scoring record to 15 tries in 23 outings as Connacht battled past Worcester Warriors, winning 15-8 at the Sportsground to seize control of Challenge Cup Pool 5.
Eoghan Masterson, captaining Connacht for the first time, scored a fifth-minute try in a man-of-the-match performance with Matt Healy bagging his 15th European try for the province on the hour. The other points came from the right boot of Jack Carty.
Worcester, who were 30-20 winners over Brive last week, won the coin toss and elected to play against the very strong wind that was blowing from the Bohermore Terrace end. So, the onus was on Connacht to build a first half lead.
The westerners’ first try was brilliantly taken as they perfectly executed a back-line move off a scrum on halfway.
The ball was passed to the right and full-back Tiernan O’Halloran, who provided a timely spark, joined the line as the extra man and sprinted through a gap before feeding Darragh Leader in support.
The winger was brought down just short but the ball was recycled quickly for number 8 Masterson to crash over.
Carty was off target with the conversion, leaving it 5-0 as injuries to James Connolly and Eoin Griffin forced Kieran Keane into two first half changes with Jarrad Butler and Craig Ronaldson both entering the fray.
The hosts spent the remainder of the opening half camped in Worcester territory but the Aviva Premiership side were defending doggedly. Carty did manage to get off the mark on 20 minutes when he landed a superb long range penalty to make it 8-0.
Despite dominating both possession and territory, Keane’s charges were unable to add any more points before the interval with handling errors proving costly in the very blustery conditions. Indeed, Worcester went closest to scoring late on through full-back Chris Pennell, following good work by their Scotland-capped flanker David Denton.
The second period was always going to be an uphill struggle for Connacht, turning into the wind, and two more injuries picked up by Dominic Robertson-McCoy and Quinn Roux hardly helped matters.
Despite those setbacks, the home side enjoyed a strong start after the break with Butler making two big carries in quick succession. Bundee Aki, who got through a lot of work in defence and attack, then offloaded brilliantly for Ronaldson whose attempts to score were spoiled by a knock-on.
Against the run of play, it was actually Worcester who scored first in the second half. Skipper Gerrit-Jan van Velze used a loose ball to break through midfield and Pennell exploited a gap before sending winger Josh Adams over for a 51st-minute try in the left corner to reduce the lead to just three points.
The pivotal moment arrived just six minutes later when out-half Carty grubbered through a gap in midfield and the ball sat up nicely for Healy to pounce and race in behind the posts. No better moment for the winger’s 15th European score having become Connacht’s top try scorer in Europe last week with a brace in Geneva.
Carty added the simple conversion and the hosts led 15-5. Worcester, whose club captain Donncha O’Callaghan came on to a very warm reception from the home fans, reduced the arrears to just seven points thanks to a Jono Lance penalty, which ultimately earned them a bonus point, but the Connacht defence held firm for a valuable victory. Two crunch clashes with Brive await in December.
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