Connacht 25
Cheetahs 17
Declan Rooney reports from the Sportsground
CONNACHT CLIMED INTO third place in Conference A thanks to Jack Carty’s late penalty and an even later try from captain Jarrad Butler at the Sportsground.
Against their play-off rivals, Cheetahs pulled level on the hour-mark when Shaun Venter scored a super individual try, but with Carty steering them beautifully with the boot Connacht delivered the killer blows in the final minutes.
Playing with the aid of a strong wind in the first half Cheetahs showed the attacking class they have become known for in the early stages, but Connacht had Carty’s brilliant intercept to thank as he denied Junior Pokomela a certain try after nine minutes.
Darragh Leader was Connacht’s saviour a few minutes later on the right, but the South African’s struck on the opposite wing when Rabz Maxwane ran on to Nico Lee’s chip through to score in the corner. Tian Schoeman landed the difficult conversion for a 7-0 lead.
While Cheetahs looked untouchable in attack at times, they also coughed up plenty of scoring chances for Connacht to work with, but it wasn’t until the 17th minute that they impacted the scoreboard when Carty kicked a penalty after Cian Kelleher came close in the corner.
Cheetahs showed they were keen for tries again after 21 minutes when Lee, William Small Smith and full back Louis Fouche combined for the No 15 to dot down, which gave Cheetahs a 12-3 lead.
It was slightly worrying for Connacht at that stage, but the chances continued to flow and finally 15 minutes from the interval they crossed.
Three of the Ireland squad combined for the try when Caolin Blade found Carty in space, while Tom Farrell cut back from the left and drove near the line and stretched to score.
A high tackle from Lee on Stephen Fitzgerald earned the centre on of Nigel Owens’s yellow cards, but try as they might Connacht couldn’t make the most of that advantage.
Kelleher again came close before the break as Farrell in particular continued to carve out opportunities, but Cheetahs held solid in defence and maintained their 12-10 lead at half-time.
After Connacht coughed up the chance to score from a five metre lineout after 43 minutes, they delivered three minutes later form a similar position as McCartney scored off the driving lineout and Carty converted for a 17-2 lead.
The incredible speed of Shaun Venter then drew Cheetahs level after 60 minutes when he ran in a great try from his own 22 metre line, but eight minutes form time Carty nudged Connacht ahead from the tee.
And a minute from time Carty send Burler over in the corner to secure a deserved win for the home side.
Connacht scorers:
Tries: Farrell 25, McCartney 46, Butler 79
Cons: Carty 27, 48 [ 2 from 3]
Pens: Carty 17, 73 [2 from 2]
Cheetahs scorers:
Tries: Maxwane 11, Fouche 21, S Venter 60
Con: Schoeman 13 [1 from 3]
CONNACHT: Darragh Leader; Cian Kelleher, Thomas Farrell, Tom Daly (Kyle Godwin ‘73), Stephen Fitzgerald; Jack Carty, Caolin Blade (Kieran Marmion ’59), Denis Buckley (Peter McCabe ’62), Tom McCartney (Dave Heffernan ’56), Finlay Bealham (Dominic Robertson-McCoy ’62); Ultan Dillane (Cillian Gallagher ’73), James Cannon; Eoin McKeon (Paul Boyle ’56), Colby Fainga’a, Jarrad Butler (c).
TOYOTA CHEETAHS: Louis Fouche; William Small-Smith (Tian Meyer ‘80), Dries Swanepoel, Nico Lee, Sibhale Maxwane; Tian Schoeman (c), Shaun Venter (R Paige ‘78); Ox Nche (Luan de Bruin ‘50) , Marnus van der Merwe (Jacques du Tiot ‘80), Johannes Coetzee (Ox Nche ‘70); Jasper Wiese (Sintu Manjezi ‘50), JP du Preez (Walt Steenkamp ‘50); Abongaile Nonkontwana, Junior Pokomela (Hanco Venter ‘54), Gerhardus Olivier.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales).
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