Ospreys 43
Connacht 40
Rob Cole reports from the Swansea.com Stadium
CONNACHT ALMOST STAGED the fightback of the season as they had the Ospreys on the ropes in the 86th minute going for the win having at one stage trailed by 24 points.
The men in green had no right to be in the conversation after conceding five tries and falling behind 38-14 with only four minutes of the second half gone, yet by the end they were the dominant force having matched their hosts try for try in a 12-try extravaganza.
The upshot of it all was the Ospreys moved up from 13th to seventh in the race for a play-off place and Connacht, despite picking up two points, dropped to 12th. It was a remarkable evening’s entertainment.
It went right down to the wire in the end with Connacht twice getting the chance to kick deep into the home 22 from penalties for a final shot at glory.
Finally, in the 86th minute, a loose ball at a Connacht breakdown allowed Adam Beard, of all people, to pick up the loose ball and kick it off the field to claim victory for the Ospreys.
The visitors got off to a flying start with a try after only three minutes in the left corner from Finn Treacy. The young wing started it all by gathering a towering up-and-under superbly in his own half. His clean take enabled Connacht to get onto the front foot and he was eventually given a run to the line after a clean break into the 22′ by Cathal Forde.
Josh Ione was able to convert from wide out and he also provided the extras for a try at the posts from flanker Shamus Hurley-Langton that the out-half had provided for him.
In between, Dan Edwards had got the Ospreys on the board with a penalty, but there was no suggestion of the avalanche of tries that was to come from the home side before the break.
What started as a very even contest, with the Connacht backline movement posing plenty of problems for the visiting defence, suddenly turned as the Welsh region began to dictate terms up front.
Keelan Giles was in the right place at the right time off his wing to notch the first of his brace of tries following a neat touchline move and he scored again when the home side shunned an easy three points with a penalty in front of the posts on the 22′ and instead took a scrum.
They moved the ball left to where Ioane had moved out onto the wing after an injury to Shayne Bolton and Giles was given a walk-in.
From the re-start Kieran Hardy raced over at the posts and then from the next kick-off, Daniel Kasende chased a kick over the top and simply strolled in to score as Connacht’s defenders curiously gave up the ghost down their left flank.
Edwards kept on kicking the conversions and by the break, the Ospreys had a bonus-point in the bag and were leading 31-14.
A thrilling counter-attack try from home fullback Jack Walsh four minutes into the second half, after the ball had gone through six pairs of hands, stretched the lead to 24 points and Connacht’s season was hanging in the balance.
A driving line-out try from hooker Dave Heffernan got them back on track and two minutes later, Piers O’Connor crossed. JJ Hanrahan converted both and the gap was suddenly only 10 points with half an hour to play.
For most of that time, it was Connacht on the front foot as they chased an unlikely win. Kasende’s long-range sprint after an interception dented the fightback, but then Josh Murphy and Hurley-Langton crossed in the space of two minutes.
Hanrahan converted the former, leaving it a three-point game with 10 minutes of normal time to play.
Could Connacht do it? They threw the kitchen sink at it and stretched the Ospreys to the limit. But after a high-phase finish, the loose Connacht passes and stern Ospreys defence proved key as the hosts held on for maximum points.
Ospreys Scorers:
Tries: K Giles (17, 33), K Hardy (35), D Kasende (36, 57), J Walsh (44); Cons: D Edwards 5 (18, 34, 36, 37, 45); Pen: D Edwards (5).
Connacht scorers:
Tries: S Bolton (3), S Hurley-Langton (14, 69), D Heffernan (48), P O’Connor (50), J Murphy (68); Cons: J Ioane 2 (4, 15), JJ Hanrahan 3 (49, 51, 68)
Ospreys: J Walsh; D Kasende, E Boshoff, K Williams (P Cokanasiga 520, K Giles; D Edwards (T Davies 78), K Hardy (R Morgan-Williams 51, I Hopkins 70); G Phillips (S Thomas 43), S Parry (captain), T Botha (B Warren 47), J Ratti (J Fender 47, K Hardy 77), A Beard, M Morse, J Tipuric (T Davies 41, G McGuigan 68), M Morris
Connacht: P O’Conor; F Treacy (JJ Hanrahan 30), H Gavin, C Forde, S Bolton, J Ioane, C Blade (M Devine 52); D Buckley (T Lasisi 45), D Heffernan (D Tierney-Martin 58), J Aungier (S Illo 57), D Murray, J Joyce (captain, O Dowling 44), J Murphy, S Hurley-Langton (D O’Connor 76), P Boyle (S Jansen 44)
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)
United are a joke!
It’s brilliant!
Did u even read the article?
In what way? This should be interesting.
Lol United are so bad now, hype themselves up all summer and will be fighting Spurs and Everton for 5th place come May.
United fans myself included were patient last year. That patience is going to wear thin very quickly if something decisive doesn’t happen in the next 2 weeks. Not to win the league but to make us competitive for a top 4 spot. Somewhere between Woodward and the glazers is the truth in all this and the focus is going to mount day by day now on both.
What’s going to happen when your patience runs out if you don’t mind me asking??
He’ll start supporting Liverpool
Ask your advice obviously
Hahaha. Well played!
Fair play sir. I doff my cap to you
Yeah a much better team why wouldn’t he?
Have a look at how the Glazers run their sports teams in the US, such as the Tampa Bay Buc’s. They are very happy to have an average team turning over a profit with the option to sell that club in a very lucrative markets (NFL & Premiership). Made their money nickel and diming poor people in trailer home parks ! Bit like they are doing at OT.
You can’t really compare a small/medium market team like the Buccaneers to United though can you? For Tamba Bay to be competitive is half the battle! Now if the Glaziers owned the Patriots, Steelers, etc and acted the same way it would be the same thing.
Teams go in cycles, and right now United are going through a rough one. It’s just about remaining competitive while the team rebuilds. As an Arsenal fan that can be very frustrating though!
My thoughts were not related to market share or size but their view and management style. I think they are lacking that connection to their club. Man U might as well be Dunnes Stores for all they really care. Compare the Red Sox owners of Liverpool, they are IMHO more intune with sports side of the business which can be clearly seen in their desire to build a connection between Fenway and Anfield.
Can you really say it’s the Glazers not investing? As Gary Neville pointed out in the last 5 transfer windows only PSG in Europe have a higher net spend on players than Man United. Now they’re looking at the team thinking ‘we spent all that money but don’t appear to have very much to show for it,’ how can you expect them to pump even more money in? Something is wrong with the way United are investing in the squad. RVP was nothing more than a plaster which temporarily covered over a poor squad, successfully albeit. Fellaini was the definition of a panic buy, paying £28m for a player you didn’t really want when you could have got him £6m cheaper the previous week. Mata was an attempt at making a statement, a superstar became available so United grabbed him to show everyone they can still sign big players even though Kagawa was already surplus to requirements and Mata was there for the same job. Shaw we were told is one for the long term and now we’re told an 18 year old professional athlete is struggling to keep in shape. Zaha has barely been seen in a United shirt since he was bought a year and half ago for £15m. The managers and Woodward have been grossly mis-using the money the Glazers having been giving them, the money is there it’s just not being spent wisely.
They’re spending huge money at Man Utd though, just on poor targets. In the past 12 months I think they’ve spent something close to £150m so you can hardly accuse them of being stingy.
if I were united I’d let Ed Woodward handle the finances he’s done a good job getn sponsers on board and strengthening the clubs position in a marketing sense and is hire ferguson to b d chief negotiator in d market
Ferguson didn’t do that job even when he was manager…Gill did. But I agree with the concept, Woodward is a good CEO but isn’t a cute enough wh0re at transfers.
exactly Woodward has done such an amazing job with the money he has brought to the club in the past 3-4 years but the transfer negotiations should be handled by someone else but definitely not Sir Alex
United!
Only for the letter d..edward woodward would be ewar woowar….drop the w and he is the donkey in winnie the pooh…
Apart from chelsea no other team in the epl has made any decent signings … says a lot about the leauge nowadays
Lukaku to everton?
Sanchez to arsenal?
I think I’ll give them a ring and tell them I’m available.
I was a centre forward 30 years ago. Also a utility centre half.
Got a few goals too.
What’s their number?
Trolling aside what if Woodward is actually doing everything any other person would but the target isn’t interested bigger clubs and champions league are a big factor as well a lot of stick he’s getting when Fergie left the club with a very average squad
City were able to build a title winning squad from humble beginnings and without the promise of Champions League football in the early days. Ditto Liverpool as title contenders.
Why is Cesc Fabregas wearing a blue jersey when he would surely be the best possible successor to Paul Scholes? The answer is hard for Utd fans to accept but the reality is that he turned down the move. This kind of rejection from big name players appears to be coming as a surprise to the Utd management and they need to understand that football is fickle and things can change very quickly.
I wonder if Utd followers now have a greater understanding of what Liverpool went through after the golden era of 70s and 80s ended. When the ‘boot room’ era finished with Daglish, no one foresaw the hardship of the next 25 years. While it’s only the second year United are without Ferguson I wonder are a few starting to sweat over the fact that fighting for a Champions League place is the pinnacle of their goals for a few years. Whilst Rodgers has taken Liverpool to second it’s still a case of wait and see if he brings that or better on a year after year basis. Not much patience in the game these days. The premier league needs both Utd and Liverpool up there fighting year after year with the ‘new money’
#glazersout
This article shows just how much woodward is out of his depht. If only david gill could be reinstated. Also disappointing as a united fan to see the team we could be lining out with.
Good God you would swear nobody ever turned United down before last year , Fergie has for ever talked about targets that were missed out on during his years and that was at a time when if you wanted to play in the PL there were only two teams you went to UTD and Arsenal now you’ve got Chelsea City With Liverpool and Spurs also coming back into the lime light , so there’s a lot more on offer now to players
There’s some amount of panic buttons being pressed lately. One bad season and its curtains for united! ! Preseason we were back to business as usual and now they lost first game of the EPL and everybody thinks were up shitcreek. Wake up boys and girls its early yet. Some fans are just ridiculous, thinking we can win something every season. Its IMPOSSIBLE! CMON UNITED! !