Fourteen-man Connacht beat the boot
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:14
Argentinian star Felipe Contepomi kicked a perfect six-from-six, but it still was not enough to prevent Connacht from scoring a major upset, a 19-18 win over defending champions Leinster, in their Magners League fixture at the Sportsground in Galway on Sunday.
Reduced to 14 men for virtually the entire second half - after lock Michael McCarthy received his second yellow card and ultimately his marching orders in the 46th minute - Connacht hung on for a famous win over their Irish compatriots.
With McCarthy having been red-carded straight after scoring the game's only try in the 44th-minute, Michael Bradley's men required a real backs-to-the-wall effort to hold on to their lead.
And held on they did.
Contepomi became the first overseas player to reach the 100 cap milestone for Leinster and marked the occasion by kicking six penalties - three in each half.
Ian Keatley came back to haunt his old province - the flyhalf kicking four penalties and converting Mike McCarthy's lone try to inspire Connacht to their first win over Irish opposition since December 2005.
Contepomi, recovering from his kicking nightmare against Munster, opened the scoring in the 15th minute.
Keatley replied in the 24th minute with his first penalty, before Contepomi struck again to move Leinster 6-3 ahead in the 26th minute, before Connacht second row McCarthy received his first yellow card.
Referee George Clancy adjudged that the former England Under-21 international had brought down a line-out and Contepomi landed the resulting kick for a 9-3 lead.
But Connacht, with Johnny O'Connor impressing in front of the watching Ireland head coach Declan Kidney, battled back to 9-9 while still down a man - key man Keatley converted two more penalties before the break.
Five minutes into the second half, the westerners conjured up a bit of magic for only their third try of the campaign.
O'Connor tore out of his half to begin a move in which Frank Murphy was involved twice.
Keatley then drew his man and put hooker Sean Cronin charging through before his one-handed offload sent McCarthy under the posts.
But a dust-up ensued after the try. McCarthy was spotted leading with his head on Rocky Elsom and the Australian retaliated with a punch. Both players received yellow cards, meaning the try-scorer's night was over.
Keatley converted and crucially managed to trade penalties with Contepomi while both sides were down to 14 men.
Leinster shunned an immediate shot at the posts as, with Elsom back, they pressed for a pushover try.
Connacht were in no mood to give in, however, and although Contepomi landed a further brace of penalties, a try eluded them.
Fitzgerald, Elsom and Cian Healy each failed to convert when in sight of the whitewash and after Jonathan Sexton pushed a drop-goal shot wide, Connacht held on for a victory which moves them off the foot of the table.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Try: McCarthy
Con: Keatley
Pens: Keatley 4
For Leinster:
Pens: Contepomi 6
Yellow cards: Michael McCarthy (Connacht - 29, 46), Rocky Elsom (Leinster, 46)
Red card: Michael McCarthy (Connacht, 46)
The teams:
Connacht: 15 Fionn Carr, 14 Liam Bibo, 13 Gavin Duffy, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Michael Roberts, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Colm Rigney, 7 Jonny O'Connor, 6 John Muldoon (c), 5 Adrian Farley, 4 Michael McCarthy, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Conor Muldoon, 17 Robbie Morris, 18 Andrew Browne, 19 Michael Swift, 20 Kieran Campbell, 21 Troy Nathan, 22 John Hearty.
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Shane Horgan, 13
Luke Fitzgerald, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Simon Keogh, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Chris Keane, 8 Stephen Keogh, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Leo Cullen (c), 3 CJ Van Der Linde, 2 John Fogarty, 1 Stan Wright.
Replacements: 16 Cian Healy, 17 Brian Blaney, 18 Trevor Hogan, 19 Cameron Jowitt, 20 Chris Whitaker, 21 Fergus McFadden, 22 Gary Brown.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Touch judges: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), John Lacey (Ireland)
TMO: Dermot Moloney (Ireland)
