Llanelli 12; Connacht 14: Connacht achieved what few visiting teams to Stradley Park have managed - a victory over Wales's premier outfit Llanelli on their home ground, and with it a semi-final berth in the Celtic Cup.
Dramatic to the last, this fixture saw the Celtic competition's top points scorer, Gareth Bowen, miss two late penalties and a drop goal that would have snatched victory from a deserving Connacht XV.
That Connacht have finally broken their duck at this stage of a competition - their fifth quarter-final - is testament to a well managed game plan that saw their speed and hunger match Llanelli's physical prowess and prevail on their first ever visit to the Welsh side.
Admittedly Llanelli were missing nine internationals on World Cup duty, but they still boasted eight in their starting line-up, three of whom in the three-quarter line were particularly menacing.
"Absolutely thrilled," said coach Michael Bradley. "In Glasgow we had to defend a lead, and this time we had to chase it. Allied to a lot of skill, we showed a lot of composure and the indications are that we are developing in the right direction."
Bradley went into the match believing Connacht would be able to defend Llanelli's style of play, utilising their mobility. Connacht's Paul Neville, John O'Sullivan and Tom Carter haunted Llanelli's trio of back-row internationals throughout. With a dominant line-out that deprived Llanelli of scoring platforms, and Mark McHugh's reliability with the boot, scoring all Connacht's points, Connacht achieved another milestone in their professional history.
At 5-5 going into the second half, Connacht's chances looked to have faded when Conor McPhillips was sin-binned for a late tackle on Matthew Watkins. From the resulting penalty, scrumhalf Dale Burn rescued possession from a miscued line-out and raced in against a bemused cover. Bowen added the conversion for a 12-5 lead.
Yet Connacht immediately hit back. Although McHugh was unable to control the unkind bounce from Mike Walls's chip through, he potted the resulting penalty after the scrumhalf was impeded, closing the game to 12-8. He followed up with another in the 69th minute and gave Connacht the lead for the first time on 76 minutes.
Llanelli sought the necessary penalties in the closing stages and got them. However, Bowen, with the strongest track record in the Celtic competitions, missed two kickable attempts, while an 84th-minute drop goal was also wide.
Llanelli's prowess at capitalising on opponents' mistakes manifested itself in the opening try after David Hewitt failed to find touch, giving Llanelli the 22-metre scrum. From Emry Lewis's reverse flick to scrumhalf Burns and a skip pass, a waiting Salesi Finau stepped out of Matt Mostyn's half tackle to scamper in from the 22 in the left corner after 17 minutes.
It was a quick-thinking Connacht and the speedy Tom Carter restored the balance. He caught the home side napping, stealing possession from a slow ruck ball, which set up several Connacht phases before full back Mark McHugh crossed after 24 minutes to level.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 17 mins Finaue try 5-0; 24 McHugh try 5-5. Half-time 5-5; 53 Burn try, Bowen conversion 12-5; 55 McHugh penalty 12-8; 69 McHugh penalty 12-11; 76 McHugh penalty 12-14.
LLANELLI: B Davies; T Selley, M Watkins, L Davies, S Finau; G Bowen, D Burn; P John, R Williams, J Davies, B Griffiths, A Jones, V Cooper, I Boobyer, E Lewis. Replacements: G Quinnell for B Griffiths (h/t), A Yelland for Willams, M Phillips for Burn (55m).
CONNACHT: M McHugh; M Mostyn, D Yapp, T Allnutt, C McPhillips; D Hewitt, M Walls; R Hogan, B Jackman, F Boiroux, D Browne, A Farley, P Neville, T Carter, J O'Sullivan. Replacements: M McCarthy for Carter (65m), S Moore for Allnutt (67m), J Fogarty for Jackman, A Clarke for Boiroux, T Robinson for McPhillips (73m).
Referee: G Davies (Scotland).
