MICHAEL Bradley did not enjoy a happy return to the Sportsgrounds last night as his former team not only beat Edinburgh but denied them a bonus point with a try at the death.
That last minute try ensured Connacht got their first league win since September and also meant they leap frogged the visitors in the table. The westerners now lie ninth and are unbeaten in three games.
After an evenly contested opening quarter Connacht struck first. Niall O’Connor’s well taken penalty gave the home side the early advantage. They stretched that even further shortly afterwards through excellent work in the scrum. The pack got a shove on and turned an Edinburgh scrum inside the visitors’ 22. Scrum half Murphy pounced on the ball and after Kyle Tonnetti was stopped short of the line, possession was retained through Mike McCarthy and Michael Swift. The ball found its way to Fetu Vainikolo who sprinted across the line for his first league try for Connacht. O’Connor added the conversion to give Connacht a 10 -0 lead going into the break.
Another good penalty from O’Connor shortly after the match resumed stretched that lead to 13 points. Falling further behind seemed to bring Edinburgh alive. O’Connor’s attempted clearance kick inside his 22 was charged down and Tim Visser grabbed the opportunity to score his 15th try of the season. Godman missed the conversion.
Despite that mini revival Connacht looked to be in control of the game when winger Tom Brown was sinbinned and O’Connor scored the resulting penalty. That wasn’t the case. The sinbinning reinvigorated Edinburgh. Scrumhalf Leck broke inside the Connacht half and two quick passes later the ball was in the safe hands of Chris Paterson who ran in for Edinburgh’s second try. Godman’s conversion attempt struck the post.
However, Godman made no mistake with his penalty right in front of the posts and with sixty minutes on the clock, Connacht’s lead had been reduced to three. Matthew Jarvis came on for O’Connor and his sixty ninth minute penalty steadied the nerves around the Sportsground.
Mike McCarthy’s try in the right corner was greeted by elation and relief around the Sportsground as it gave Connacht their first win since they beat the Dragons way back on September 23.
Eric Elwood as hugely relieved to see his side finally secure a league victory after so long. “Thankfully we hung on at the end and got ourselves back into it. Good persistence down near their line and a good reward when Mike got his try. We could breathe a sigh of relief when the final whistle went,” he said.