Connacht 14-20 Scarlets, The Sportsground
Scorecard
Scarlets managed to resist Connacht as they sealed a thrilling 14-20 win in the sixth round of Pro14 at The Sportsground on Sunday.
This is Scarlets’ third win from six games as they move to the second place in Conference B while Connacht are at fifth place after losing their second game in four matches.
Johnny McNicholl set up the opening try of the game as he offloaded to Ryan Conbeer, who went over the line in the sixth minute to get the Welsh regional side off the mark.
The response from Connacht came in the 17th minute with Abraham Papali’i dotting down but Scarlets seized the lead heading into the break with Conbeer scoring his second in the 32nd minute which was once again set up by McNicholl. Dan Jones missed the conversion but kicked a penalty goal as the scoreline became 7-13 at the end of the opening half.
Early in the second half, McNicholl launched an attack on the Irish side and Paul Asquith in turn allowed Dane Blacker over the line that Jones improved to make the scoreline 7-20.
As the third quarter was about to end, Ultan Dillane dotted down in the 61st minute followed by Jack Carty’s conversion gave Connacht a glimmer of hope but Scarlets did well not to concede any more point to complete a six-point victory.
Team line-up:
Connacht: Porch; Wootton, Arnold, Daly, Healy; Carty, Reilly; McAllister, Delahunt, Kenny, Dillane, Thornbury, Boyle, Butler, Papali’i.
Reserves: Murphy, Buckley, Aungier, Masterson, Oliver, Marmion, Farrell, Sullivan.
Scarlets: McNicholl; Conbeer, Hughes, Asquith, S Evans; D Jones, Blacker; R Evans, Davies, Sebastian, Lousi, M Jones, Kennedy, J Morgan, Kalamafoni.
Reserves: Hughes, Price, Kruger, Drake, Cassiem, Homer, O’Brien, T Morgan.
