‘Scrappy’ win sums up season
MAN of the match Cian Prendergast said the manner of Connacht’s win in their final game summed up a frustrating campaign. They finished with a win against basement side Zebre but the concession of two late tries left them hanging on.
“It was very scrappy, a lot of stupid errors but it was symptomatic of our season,” said the back rower. “We won for the boys who are leaving but we would have liked to win in a nicer way.”
Connacht led 17-8 at the break with Prendergast leading the way as they scored three tries off lineout moves. Scrum-half Kieran Marmion got them motoring when he picked and dived in the left corner after seven minutes after Tom Daly and Prendergast were stopped short.
Prendergast, starting at No.8, was also heavily involved in the second try with Niall Murray getting over while Eoghan Masterson brought an end to his nine-year term at the Sportsground on a high note with their third try.
Zebre hit back before the break when full-back Lorenzo Pani managed to get through Tom Farrell, Alex Wootton and Oran McNulty to score in the right corner.
Connacht wrapped up the bonus point with a good sweeping move nine minutes after the restart with John Porch supplying a quality finish from deep.
Zebre hit back when Matteo Nocera got in for a try and then they punished some dreadful defending as centre Enrico Lucchin bounced off tackles to score, with Carlo Canna’s conversion leaving just two points between them as Connacht hung on.
Star man
Cian Prendergast - Connacht TEAMS CONNACHT: McNulty 6, Porch 7, Farrell 6(Arnold 68, 6), Daly 7, Wootton 6, Carty 7 (Fitzgerald 52, 6), Marmion 7 (Reilly 50, 7), Buckley 7 (Burke 60, 7), Tierney-Martin 6 (Heffernan 59, 7), Bealham (Illo 60, 6), Thornbury 7 (Dillane 61, 7), Murray 7, E Masterson 7 (Papali’i 62, 6), S Masterson 7, Prendergast 8. ZEBRE: Pani 7; Tuivuaka 7, Smith 6 (Laloifi 63, 6), Lucchin 6, Trulla 6; Canna 7, Casilio 7 (Fusco 59, 6); Fischetti 6 (Buonfiglio 60, 7), Bigi 6 (Ribaldi 53, 7), Bello 6 (Nocera 60, 7), Sisi 6, Zambonin 6 (Krumov 59, 6), Andreani 7 (Vintcent 59, 6), Bianchi 6, Fox-Matamua 7 REFEREE: Adam Jones (Wal) ATTENDANCE: 4,127