Connacht suffer late heartache
Connacht looked set to snatch victory in Treviso when they edged in front for the first time five minutes from the end, but Benetton broke their hearts in the final play of a crunch URC tie at Stadio Monigo.
With the two teams level on points and just outside the knockout and Champions Cup places, the amount at stake was evident in a dour encounter which rarely opened up.
When Cian Prendergast got over late on, Connacht looked set for victory but now face an uphill battle to secure a tophalf finish.
They found themselves 10-0 adrift after 15 minutes but recovered well. By the interval, they trailed by just three, 10-7.
Pete Wilkins’ men were twice pinged on their own scrum inside their 22 and Benetton made them pay, going wide through the half-backs for Argentinian winger Ignacio Mendy to touch down one-handed in the right corner. Jacob Umaga added a conversion from the touchline — and the former Wasps outhalf extended Benetton’s lead with a penalty from 40 metres.
But Connacht, who lost Munster-bound winger Diarmuid Kilgallen to injury, got back in contention eight minutes from the break when replacement winger Shayne Bolton mopped up a Benetton attack to counter.
After going wide, Prendergast chased his own grubber and won a penalty. Skipper Jack Carty went down the line before lock Niall Murray scored under the posts. Carty converted to make it 10-7.
Benetton finally got the first score of the second half when Umaga extended their lead on 68 minutes with a penalty from 25 metres, but the Connacht response was good and Prendergast picked and got over beside the posts. Carty added the extras to put them 14-13 ahead.
However, Alessandro Izekor then escaped the clutches of Tiernan O’Halloran and David Hawkshaw to score the winner in the right corner for Benetton. Scorers – Benetton: I Mendy, A Izekor tries; J Umaga con; Umaga 2 pens. Connacht: N Murray, C Prendergast tries; J Carty 2 cons.
Benetton: R Smith (T Albornoz 77); I Mendy, T Menoncello (M Fekitoa 72), I
Brex, O Ratave; J Umaga, A Garbisi (A Uren 45); T Gallo (M Spagnolo 56), G Nicotera (B Bernasconi 49), G Zilocchi (T Pasquali 60); N Cannone (F Ruzza 65), E Snyman
(c); A Izekor, M Lamaro (L Cannone 25), T Halafihi.
Connacht: T O’Halloran; D Kilgallen (S Bolton 17), D Hawkshaw, C Forde (S Jennings 54), A Smith; J Carty, M McDonald (C Reilly 46); J Duggan (D Buckley 54), D Heffernan (E de Buitléar 69), J Aungier (S Illo 54); N Murray, J Joyce (D Murray 2-11, 54); C Prendergast, S Hurley-Langton, P Boyle (J Butler 60).
Referee: M Ferreira (South Africa).