Connacht 19
Glasgow 19

By Rob Murphy

Caption: Naoupu makes a break. Pic: Sporting Occasions

Connacht had the extra man because of Calum Forrester’s sin binning. They had a five point lead and Glasgow’s winger, Colin Shaw was out of the game injured.

The home side had defended their lines for no less than 20 phases of play and all seemed to be well but a momentary lapse on the blindside opened the door and Eddie, the Glasgow eagle, did the business.

The missed conversion offered solace in the shape of a draw. Connacht are now unbeaten in their last six home games. Now, there’s a positive stat amid the gloom of Friday’s endgame scenario. The fact that Michael Bradley’s crew have at least came away with points from their past two games is also encouraging.

In the past Connacht have racked up the pointless outings with ease but to turn the corner they were always going to have to start small and build. 

Losing bonus points and even scrambling draws in games where the performances leave a lot to be desired is a good sign overall. That is the long term route to finally getting off the bottom of the table.

(Pic: Sporting Occasions).

That won’t happen this season however, At best Connacht will hope for three more wins and a couple of bonus points from the remainder of the season. That would provide solid momentum for crunch European fixtures ahead.

To make progress in Europe and become the first group of Connacht players to really deliver a crunch victory when the eyes of Europe are on them, major improvements on this display are needed.

Discipline is a problem, the pedantic refereeing of James Jones can irk the calmest of supporters on a good day. He frustrated the crowd on Friday but in his defence the 11-10 penalty count in favour of Glasgow is hardly scandalous and of those 21 calls it was hard to fault more than two.

His detractors will rightly point to some of the non calls as the best example of what the majority felt was a poor display. A key no call against Glasgow for holding on in that final attack was vital as was his inconsistent monitoring of the offside line.

Connacht didn’t really click for 50 minutes, interestingly they conceded all of their 11 penalties during that time and trailed 14-3 as a result of poor retention of possession, a lack of penetration out wide and a palpable sense of flatness for long periods.

Glasgow came to grind out the points missing 12 front line internationals. They are second in the Magners League table thanks to some brilliant form this year but this game was always going to be a major obstacle with a host of absentees. They’ll be happy with the two points gained.

Ruaridh Jackson kicked well, his penalties had them 6-3 ahead at half time after a drab opening forty minutes in which the visitors certainly commanded but one where they never looked like scoring a try.

After half time a knock on from Naoupu at the kick off saw Connacht penalised for offside and gifted Glasgow another three. Mike McCarthy was sin binned for as Connacht suffered for a high penalty count to that point and within two minutes Glasgow had their first try.

That score came as a result of a poor kick from Ian Keatley who was otherwise in fine form. Kicking away possession when down a man has to be a bad plan, especially when on the attack. Glasgow countered set up a phase deep in Connacht territory and worked a fine try in the corner with DTH Van Der Merwe scoring.

The response from Connacht in the remaining half hour lifted the home support and certainly was encouraging. The changes helped, especially the introduction of Bernie Upton but the main difference was the sense of urgency.

A fine break in midfield from Keith Matthews off a great pass from Aidan Wynne came to nothing when the former failed to see Fionn Carr inside. Similar to the Ospreys game were Nathan didn’t link up with Murphy late on, that mistake proved crucial.

Connacht fought back through the boot of Keatley as the Welsh referee turned his ire towards Glasgow’s inability to roll away in the tackle and their offside infringements. Keatley kicked two before Gavin Duffy burst through the defence for a memorable try.

It was 16-14 and Connacht were now rampant another Keatley penalty stretched that lead to five and Connacht had just under four minutes to see the contest out. Against Worcester, Montpellier and others before this season, they managed as much but this time they couldn’t.

The crucial mistake came from a kick off that should have been read as it was a carbon copy of what had come before, short and high. it was claimed by Glasgow almost without contest and 20 phases later, with just 13 able bodies, the visitors somehow found an overlap. A lamentable mistake from which lessons must be learned.

Connacht: Duffy; Nathan, Matthews, Wynne, Carr; Keatley, F Murphy; Wilkinson, Cronin, Hagan; Swift, McCarthy; Muldoon, O’Connor, Naoupu.

Replacements: Morris for Hagan (41 mins), Upton for Swift (58 mins), McComish for  O’Connor (62 mins). Not used: Flavin, Nikora, O’Loughlin, Tuohy. Sinbin: McCarthy (42 mins)

Glasgow: Stortoni; Shaw, Murchie, Horne, van der Merwe; Jackson, McMillan; Welsh, Hall, Kalman, Barker, Turner, Eddie, Forrester, Vernon.

Replacements: Tkachuk for Kalman, Gray for Barker (both 53 mins), O’Hare for van der Merwe, Gregor for Jackson (both 65 mins), Kinloch for Shaw (72 mins). Not used: Thomson, Fusaro. Sinbin: Forrester (75 mins).

Referee: James Jones (WRFU).

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