ANDY FRIEND RUED a huge missed opportunity as his Connacht side suffered a disappointing last-gasp 22-17 defeat to a weakened Ospreys side in Bridgend last night.
With the likes of Bundee Aki, Ultan Dillane and Quinn Roux in their team, Connacht were up against a home outfit missing all but one of their Wales international contingent.
Nevertheless, they were unable to come out on top as the visitors were made to pay for a slow start – one in which they conceded two tries inside the first nine minutes – and failed to turn their periods of dominance into points. As a result, they lost further ground on their Guinness Pro14 rivals.
Friend said: “We knew Ospreys had a lot of players out, so this is definitely a missed opportunity for us. We had a slow start and there was a lack of energy about us, which was disappointing. I thought we did well to get back to 17-17, but then we lose the game in the final play. It’s a big blow.
“On the whole, I thought we were flat and we talked about rectifying that at half-time. We did that and got in a position to win, but we didn’t capitalise.”
Ospreys took total control as Keelan Giles scored two early tries, neither of which were converted by out-half Sam Davies. All Connacht could manage in the first-half was a Jack Carty drop-goal.
At 10-3 up, Ospreys saw number eight Rob McCusker yellow-carded for a high shot on Cian Kelleher when the second half began. A man light, the boys in black and white actually moved further clear.
The excellent Cory Allen roared away and showed fine vision to find Harri Morgan on his inside. The 18-year-old scrum-half – on his Pro14 debut – did the rest. Davies converted.
Connacht got on the comeback trail when Aki, and then captain Jarrad Butler, crossed, with Carty’s two conversions levelling the game. At that stage Connacht looked the only possible winners, but after Carty hooked a drop-goal attempt wide, Allen roared clear out of nowhere and Dan Evans was the eventual beneficiary. His 80th-minute try saw Connacht beaten at the death.
“When the Ospreys were down to 14 men we didn’t capitalise and they actually won that period 7-0. That’s a big area of concern for, us to be honest,” Friend added.
“I don’t think us being favourites for the game was part of us losing. We’ve normally started the first 20 minutes in games well this season. This was the first time it didn’t happen.
“I don’t know what it was, but I’ll pay credit to the Ospreys. They played a smart game and turned us around which we struggled to cope with. We have to bounce back from this result now.”
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