Connacht 13 Treviso 15:CONNACHT FAILED to arrest their run of defeats, falling to Italian visitors Treviso at the Galway Sportsground last evening – and once again they paid the full price for a poor start.
Down 15-0 after 20 minutes, they came right back into the reckoning, but despite an immense second-half effort, they were forced to settle for a losing bonus point – only their second point in the last five outings.
They held Treviso scoreless in the second half but they could not make their possession count.
Too many knock-ons close to the try line in the face of an aggressive Treviso defence ensured the spoils headed to Italy.
“It’s hard to take, it was a game we should have won. There were a lot of positives, but when it mattered we turned over ball and did not show enough composure,” said coach Eric Elwood.
Treviso took their chances, grabbing two tries and a penalty within 22 minutes. A Connacht turnover provided them with their first chance which resulted in an opening penalty for Treviso outhalf Willem De Waal after 11 minutes.
Three minutes later Treviso scrumhalf Fabio Semenzato was quick off the mark with a free, and from the ensuing ruck left wing Brendan Williams and fullback Ludovico Nitoglia combined up the right wing to send the fullback over the whitewash for the first try, which De Waal converted.
For the second time in a week Connacht found themselves 10-0 down, and despite dominating territory and possession, they had nothing to show for their efforts.
Ray Ofisa marked his 100th cap for the province with his trademark tackling, David Gannon controlled the lineouts, Niall O’Connor provided some astute kicks for his backline, and man-of-the-match Dave McSharry consistently provided a potent threat.
However, it was Treviso who capitalised from an interception, and from the subsequent Connacht knock-on, right wing Iannone Tommaso hacked on the ball from half way and had a clear run to the line for try number two.
Two penalties provided Connacht with some momentum. The pack continued to push Treviso back, but Dave McSharry claimed the try, taking a fine inside line from Niall O’Connor to race over from 10 metres out. O’Connor added the conversion to close the gap after 31 minutes.
O’Connor, who had missed a 49th minute effort, succeeded in the 56th minute to close the cap to 15-10, and the momentum was clearly with the home side. But all they could muster from their late efforts was another penalty from O’Connor after 66 minutes.
CONNACHT: G Duffy, M McCrea, K Tonetti, D McSharry,T OHalloran, N OConnor, F Murphy, B Wilkinson, E Reynecke, R Loughney, M Swift, G Naoupu, D Gannon, J Muldoon, R Ofisa. Replacements: R Ah You for Loughney (53 mins), M Kearney for Swift (70 mins).
BENETTON TREVISO: L Nitoglia, T Iannone, E Galon, A Pratichetti, B Williams, W De Waal, F Semenzato, M Rizzo (cpt), F Sbaraglini, I Fernandez-Rouyet, F Minto, B Vermaak, M Vosawai, P Derbyshire, M Filippucci. Replacements: L Cittadini for Rizzo and C Van Zyl for Derbyshire (52 mins), G Padro for Minto and M Muccignat for Fernandez-Rouyet (both 66), K Burton for Tommaso (67), V Bernabo for Vosawai (76).Yellow cards: F Semenzato (26); M Vasawai (56).
Referee: P Hennessy (WRU).
