Connacht snatch two-point victory over Borders

Connacht 29 Borders 27

Eric Elwood ended Connacht’s two-game losing streak and the Borders’ hopes of a first ever Celtic League away win as he stole a 29-27 victory for the province in the ninth minute of injury time at the Sportsground.

Bottom side Borders led 22-3 after half an hour and outscored the home side by four tries to three.

But, with replacement hooker Steve Scott sin-binned, Connacht breached their line late through skipper Andrew Farley and 35-year-old Elwood held his nerve with the last kick of the game to snatch victory.

New coach Steve Bates’ first success of the season looked on as Borders’ New Zealand contingent was to the fore.

Former Auckland skipper Paul Thomson and ex-Otago centre Charlie Hore contributed 22 of their points – both scoring two tries in the space of three minutes on the half hour, but scores from Conor O’Loughlin, Niall O’Brien on the hour, and Farley in the 76th minute helped Connacht to their first win since the opening day of the season.

Unbeaten at home against Scottish opposition since December 2001, Connacht were battling a gusty Galway gale in the first half but it was their loose tackling which saw them on the retreat.

The visitors went closest in the early stages as scrum half Johnny Weston, who made his debut last week against Leinster, was bundled into touch close to the Connacht line by his opposite number O’Loughlin.

A quick reversal of possession on 15 minutes saw Borders open the scoring though, as 22-year-old blindside Kelly Brown was bundled over in the right corner. Hore clipped the conversion over and added a penalty three minutes later for a 10-0 lead.

Elwood, making his first start of the season, got Connacht back in the game with with a 27th-minute penalty.

But Michael Bradley’s charges allowed the Borders the latitude to hit back straight away as two minutes later prop Thomson gleefully scored his second in two games.

Hore then collected his own chip to steal over and convert for a 22-3 lead.

A sniping run from scrum half O’Loughlin deservedly saw Connacht net their first try with five minutes of the half remaining, with Elwood converting for a 22-10 half-time deficit.

In the opening minute of the second half, Elwood crisply moved Connacht within nine with his first penalty.

But Hore, dynamic in the loose, was put over in the 50th minute by fly-half Alistair Warnock to confirm Borders’ second bonus point of the season in the far corner.

A Paul Warwick pop pass put Connacht winger O’Brien over seven minutes later and whilst Elwood missed the conversion, a third penalty had the home side just 27-21 down.

With little time remaining, the Borders’ defence, which shipped 88 tries last season, crumbled again as Farley lurched over. Elwood again missed his chance with the right-to-left conversion.

But he coolly slotted over the crucial injury time penalty, as the Borders infringed on the deck.