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Rugby

Jack Carty's final minute conversion completes remarkable comeback at the Sportsgrounds

Connacht pulled off a remarkable comeback in Galway on Saturday evening, scoring in the...



Jack Carty's final minute...
Rugby

Jack Carty's final minute conversion completes remarkable comeback at the Sportsgrounds

Connacht pulled off a remarkable comeback in Galway on Saturday evening, scoring in the last minute to beat Wasps 20-18 at the Sportsgrounds.  

Pat Lam's side shot out of the blocks early on and were rewarded for their industry with a penalty, only for Carty to pull his attempt wide. 

The home side attacked with intent but Wasps deployed a choke defence and were able to snuff out any real danger before the Westerners could build up any momentum. 

Carty slotted over a penalty resulting from a ruck after good work Marmion to give the home side a 3-0 lead. 

Both teams were keen to get as much width on the ball as possible with the wide channels seeing plenty of action.

Wasps hit back through Joe Simpson to take the lead. The scrum-half touched down for Wasps after Nathan Hughes was stopped just short of the line. Jimmy Gopperth added the conversion to make it 7-3 to the visitors. 

Wasps's Joe Simpson scores a try. Image: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

A scrappy opening to the match saw both teams make simple handling errors and neither were able to take a firm grip of proceedings.

Wasps kicked to the corner in the 22nd minute and won a penalty from the resulting line-out. The visitors went to the corner again but were eventually held-up just short of the line.

O'Halloran penalised for a yellow card for repeatedly infringing at the breakdown. After a period of intense pressure from the visitors, Pat Lam's men were able to defend the resulting maul and cleared their lines.  

In the 28th minute, Connacht, as is their way, ran from inside their own 22. Healy made a half-break and offloaded to Bundee Aki who broke down the field.

The support recycled the ball, Connacht kept the attack alive and were eventually awarded a penalty which Carty converted to make it 6-7.

Healy was taken off for blood injury during the move just previous, with Poolman coming on in his place.

A 37th minute maul from the home side saw almost the entire Connacht team force their way over the line but the officials were unable to see a grounding and a scrum was awarded.  

The resulting five metre scrum saw Connacht get turned over by an impressive defensive effort from Wasps and Simpson cleared the ball upfield.

Adeolokun came storming back at the away side and after the ball was recycled, Carty floated a perfect kick to the corner for Poolman to touch down.

The kicker added the extras from the touchline to give Connact a 13-7 lead at the break.  

Connacht's Danie Poolman scores a try. Image: ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson

Connacht came out after the break and went straight after their guests, dominating territory but each time they attacked, Wasps rebuffed them.

The visitors gradually made their way into Connacht territory and were rewarded with a penalty which Gopperth converted to bring the score to 13-10.

The score appeared to galvanise the Dai Young's charges who mounted a mutli-phase attack in Connacht territory only to knock the ball forward and relieve the pressure on the Westerners.

Their pressure was rewarded moments later when Gopperth slotted another penalty to make it 13-13 with just over 10 minutes remaining.

It looked like Wasps might steal the win when they broke through Connacht's cover out wide. They made it to within five metres of the try line only for brilliant defence from the home team to turn the ball over.

Wasps dominated the resulting scrum and turned the ball over themselves. Spreading it wide to Josh Bassett, they powered over Adeolokun to score in the corner. Gopperth missed the conversion to give the visitors a 18-13 lead up six minutes remaining.

Joe Launchbury was immense for the English side and almost single-handedly repelled Connacht's attacks as the game drew to a close.  

Connacht's Bundee Aki on the attack. Image: ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson

When the game seemed beyond's Connacht's reach, Adeolukun won a penalty at a breakdown. The hosts went down the line, won their line-out and drove Dawai over the line to tie the scores at 18-18.

Jack Carty stepped up and slotted the conversion to seal a memorable 20-18 win and the Sportsground went wild.  

Connacht's Jack Carty kicks the winning conversion. Image: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

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