Connacht 16

Cardiff Blues 16

Connacht had to settle for a share of the spoils after an entertaining encounter at the Sportsground on Saturday evening.

A fired-up Connacht side did more than enough to win this Magners League clash but in the end saw Cardiff miss two penalties in injury-time, which would have snatched victory.

It would have been rough justice on Connacht had they lost this one, but Ben Blair was off target with two penalties in the dying moments.

Connacht, too, had a chance to take the spoils but Paul Warwick saw a touchline penalty seven minutes from time come back off the left post.

Connacht dominated for long periods after bouncing back from the concession of a Tom Shanklin converted try after just over a minutes.

Connacht, with John Muldoon, Andrew Farley and Ray Ofisa superb up front in a dominant pack, came storming back after Warwick had landed a penalty for Ofisa to cross for an 18th minute try.

With Gavin Duffy showing some sublime touches on his first match back in the Sportsground since rejoining Connacht from Harlequins, Michael Bradley’s men were well worth their 13-10 interval lead.

Blair levelled the match four minutes after the restart before Warwick pushed Connacht back in front after 55 minutes.

Blair again equalised with another penalty but it was Connacht who continued to pile on the pressure in the final quarter. However, in the end they had to settle for their second draw of the season.

Connacht:

Try: Ofisa

Pens: Warwick (3)

Con: Warwick

Cardiff Blues:

Try: Shanklin

Pens: Blair (3)

Con: Blair

Connacht: G Duffy; D Yapp, J Hearty, M McHugh, C McPhillips; P Warwick, C Keane; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, S Knoop; M Swift, A Farley; J Muldoon, R Ofisa, C Rigney.

Replacements: D Slemen for McHugh, 18 mins; J Fogarty for Flavin, 56 mins; R Hogan for Knoop, 56 mins; A Browne for Swift, 66 mins;

Cardiff Blues: B Blair; T James, T Shanklin, M Stcherbina, C Czekaj; N Robinson, M Phillips; G Jenkins, G Williams, T Filise; B Davies, R Sidoli; S Morgan, R Sowden-Taylor, M Lewis.

Replacements: T Riley for James, 64 mins; R Thomas for Williams, 64 mins; A Powell for Morgan, 64 mins; S Roberts for Filise, 76 mins.

Referee: P Allen (Scotland).