Late score secures Dragons success
A late try from Dragons No.8 Joe Bearman denied Connacht a bonus point from their Magners League clash on Saturday night – a match ultimately won 23-10 by the home side.
The Welsh region raced out to a 10 point lead after the first quarter of an hour but the tight contest saw Connacht strike back before the break.
Fighting tooth-and-nail write up until the last minute, Bearman’s try finally made the game safe for Paul Turner’s men in the last minute of the match.
Flyhalf James Arlidge got the game hosts started with a penalty after just three minutes before, with a quarter of an hour gone, flank James Harris dotted down for the Dragons.
Connacht hit back with a try of their own from flyhalf Miah Nikora after 31 minutes.
Both sides added late first half penalties, meaning the two sides went into the interval with just three points between them.
Neither side was ever able to really take control of the fixture and scoring opportunities were limited in the second half as well.
Replacement Shane Connor added a penalty after 65 minutes for the home side, taking the score to 16-10, before a Bearman’s late effort denied Connacht a losing bonus-point.
The Scorers
For Dragons
Tries: Harris, Bearman
Pen: Arlidge 2, Connor
Cons: Arlidge, Connor
For Connacht
Tries: Nikora
Pen: Nikora
Cons: Nikora
The teams:
Dragons: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Aled Brew, 13 Tom Riley, 12 Rhodri Gomer Davies, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Danny Lee, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 James Harris, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Luke Charteris (captain), 4 Adam Jones, 3 Gethin Robinson, 2 Steve Jones, 1 Hugh Gustafson.
Replacements: 16 Duane Goodfield, 17 Nigel Hall, 18 Hoani MacDonald, 19 Lewis Evans, 20 Will Harries, 21 Shaun Connor, 22 Wayne Evans
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Troy Nathan, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Liam Bibo, 10 Miah Nikora, 9 Conor O’Loughlin, 8 John Muldoon (captain), 7 Johnny O’Connor, 6 Mike McCarthy, 5 Bernie Upton, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Ronan Loughney.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Brett Wilkinson, 18 Andrew Browne, 19 Mike McComish, 20 Frank Murphy, 21 Ian Keatley, 22 Aidan Wynne.
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Phil Fear (Wales), Neil Howells (Wales)
TMO: Tony Rowlands (Wales)
