Late try seals win for Connacht

Connacht 11 Edinburgh 3

A late try from substitute hooker John Fogarty four minutes from time sealed an opening day victory in the Celtic League for Connacht over Edinburgh in Galway this afternoon.

Fogarty, who joined Connacht from Munster this summer, had the ball in his hands as the Irish province drove over the line in the closing stages.

Eric Elwood, who had earlier kicked two penalties to give Connacht a 6-0 half-time lead, missed the conversion but the late score was enough to consign Edinburgh to defeat despite their second-half domination.

Connacht had a new coach in former Ireland captain and scrum-half Michael Bradley and a host of new faces in their squad with six players making their competitive debuts for the province.

But it was old stager Elwood, beginning his 16th campaign in Connacht colours, who made the difference in the opening half, sending over two penalty kicks to give the home side a 6-0 half-time lead.

The interval saw Bradley make changes to his back division, with centre Darren Yapp making way for Ted Robinson who moved onto the wing with Conor McPhilips moving into midfield.

From the restart, however, Edinburgh began to put Connacht under pressure, helped by a strong breeze which was now in their favour.

Despite spending plenty of time in the Irish half, however, the Scots could make no dent in the Connacht lead with substitute fly-half Ander Munro missing two penalties. He did slot one over, though, to narrow the gap on the hour to 6-3, but Edinburgh could not break Connacht down.

And when full-back Mark McHugh kicked a penalty into the corner with four minutes to go, the Scots could not hold a Connacht drive from the subsequent line-out as all eight forwards crossed the line with Fogarty getting the final touch.