Connacht down Benetton in thriller

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MATCH REPORT: Connacht kept their United Rugby Championship play-off hopes alive by defeating Benetton by 38-30 at the Sportsground on Saturday evening.

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Connacht opened the scoring as soon as the sixth minute when Finn Treacy dotted down in the corner which Josh Ioane converted.

The hosts doubled their lead six minutes later when fellow wing Shayne Bolton crossed the whitewash, but Ioane couldn't add the extras.

Benetton recorded their first points of the match through flyhalf Tomas Albornoz in the 16th minute, followed by a try by wing Ignacio Mendy three minutes later as Albornoz added the extras.

The visitors took the lead for the first time in the match through scrumhalf Andy Uren's try in the 26th minute with Albornoz adding the extras to take a five point lead.

Centre Marco Zanon extended the lead four minutes later with his try with Albornoz's conversion giving the Italians a handy 12 point lead.

Three minutes later, the Benetton flyhalf slotted a penalty to extend the lead to 15 points, but No.8 Paul Boyle's try in the 38th minute which Ioane converted cut the visitors' lead to eight points heading into the break.

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The second half was all Connacht.

A try by flanker Shamus Hurly-Langton in the 47th minute, followed by Ioane's conversion brought the hosts back within a solitary point of Benetton.

Flyhalf Albornoz slotted a penalty to extend Benetton's lead to four points in the 69th minute, but tries by Bolton and replacement scrumhalf Matthew Devine in the 66th and 72nd minutes respectively, took the wind out of Benetton's sails as JJ Hanrahan converted the latter's score to seal the win for the hosts.

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Scorers: 

For Connacht:
Tries: Treacy, Boyle, Hurley-Langton, Devine, Bolton 2
Cons: Ioane 3, Bolton

For Benetton:
Tries: Mendy, Uren, Zanon
Cons: Albornoz 3
Pens: Albornoz 3

Teams

Connacht: 15 Piers O'Connor, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 Hugh Gavin, 12 Cathal Forde, 11 Finn Treacy, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 David O'Connor, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Josh Murphy, 20 Oisin Dowling, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 David Hawkshaw.

Benetton: 15 Rhyno Smith, 14 Ignacio Mendy, 13 Marco Zanon, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Matt Gallagher, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Jadin Kingi, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Giulio Marini, 3 Giosue Zilocchi, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Simon Koroiyadi, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Federico Zanandrea.

Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistant referees: Keane Davison (Ireland), Sam Holt (Ireland)
TMO: Tom Spurrier (Wales)

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Image credit @BenettonRugby