Edinburgh demolish Connacht

Edinburgh Gunners 34 Connacht 3

Edinburgh Gunners smashed their second hoodoo in quick succession by completing a clinical demolition job on shell-shocked Connacht.

Frank Hadden’s side had never beaten Connacht on home turf and the triumph came just as week after they had notched their first ever away win at Llanelli.

Hadden had talked up his team’s Celtic League title hopes by claiming he had his strongest ever squad at his disposal and, on this evidence, they must be rated as genuine contenders.

Edinburgh made all the running in the opening 15 minutes but could not turn pressure into quick points.

A combination of carelessness and robust defence by the visitors kept the scoresheet blank until skipper Chris Paterson steadied the nerves with a long-range penalty.

The first real opportunity had come in the second minute when a Paterson touch-kick set up a line-out in the danger zone.

The Edinburgh pack mauled to within five metres of the line, but the good work was wasted as scrum-half Mike Blair tried to go on his own and was blocked.

Their next opening was halted when the backline were penalised for off-the-ball obstruction.

Then, in the wake of two excellent runs by rookie centre Rob Dewey, Paterson watched in dismay as his simple penalty crashed back off the left-hand post.

Edinburgh’s impatience shone through again when they set up another attacking line-out, only to meekly hand possession back to the Irishmen.

But, at last, they began to get their act together, and accurate Paterson’s 45-metre effort gave the home supporters something to cheer.

The strike acted as a calming influence and the Gunners created a slick try in the 22nd minute.

Winger Simon Webster launched the move in his own 22 area – and popped up again to finish in style after excellent link work by Marcus Di Rollo.

Paul Warwick clawed back three points for Connacht with a well-judged penalty - and then the action really hotted up in the build up to the interval as Welsh referee Neil Ballard seemed to lose his grip.

Edinburgh breakaway forward Ally Hogg was yellow-carded for a high challenge and visiting lock Christian Short followed him into the sin-bin for an illegal block on Francisco Leonelli as he chased his own chip ahead.

There was another dose of drama four minutes after the restart when the Gunners were handed a penalty try in similar circumstances.

Leonelli’s kick left the Connacht defence in tatters and, when Paterson raced upfield in pursuit, he was held back.

Paterson landed the formality of the conversion to give his side some breathing space.

The home team ended the challenge of the province with a lethal burst of three tries in seven minutes, making sure of the precious bonus point in the process.

Hogg made amends for his earlier transgression by ploughing over in the corner before Dewey finished off a thrilling move featuring Paterson and the impressive Leonelli.

In the wake of Paterson’s conversion, he turned from provider to scorer, snapping up a pinpoint pass by Matt Mustchin to effectively end the contest.