A spirited Connacht side chalked up their first win of the Magners League campaign with a deserved victory at the Sportsground on Friday night.

Michael Bradley's men achieved victory with a fired-up display which saw Cardiff condemned to their third defeat on the spin.

And Connacht did it the hard way, coming from 10-0 down in the opening half to secure victory.
Two tries from Fionn Carr secured the points as incessant pressure finally yielded the match-winning scores.

Ben Blair got over for an early Blues try which he converted and then added a penalty.
However, Connacht finally availed of some good chances with an Ian Keatley reducing the margin to 10-3 at the break.

Connacht were disciplined and defended superbly after the restart before they launched a series of attacks which led to Carr getting over for this first try after 43 minutes.

Connacht continued to apply pressure and after Blues flanker Ma'ama Molitika was sinbinned, the attacks yielded a second try for Carr after 59 minutes.

Keatley landed the touchline conversion and made it 18-10 with a penalty.
The Blues hit back with two penalties from Blair to ensure an exciting finish but he was off target with a late kick.

CONNACHT:
Tries: Carr (2)
Con: Keatley
Pens: Keatley (2)

Cardiff:
Try: Blair
Con: Blair
Pens: Blair (3)

Connacht: G Duffy; B Tuohy, T Nathan, K Matthews, F Carr; M Nikora, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin, J Hagan; A Browne, B Upton; J Muldoon, R Ofisa, M McComish.

Replacements: I Keatley for Nikora, 28 mins; M McCarthy for Browne, 55 mins; J O'Connor for Ofisa, 63 mins; A Flavin for Cronin, 71 mins; R Loughney for Hagan, 74 mins.

Cardiff Blues: B Blair; L Halfpenny, G Thomas, J Roberts, C Czekaj; C Sweeney, R Rees; J Yapp, G Williams, T Filise; B Davies, P Tito; M Molitika, S Warburton, X Rush.

Replacements: G Evans for Roberts, half-time; S Norton-Knight for Sweeney, 60 mins; T Rhys Thomas for Williams, 63 ins; D Jones for Davies, 66 mins; A Powell for Molitika, 66 mins;

Referee: N Patterson (Scotland).