Farrell fires in two tries to overhaul pacey Cheetahs

 Connacht 24

Rob Murphy at the Sportsground

TOM Farrell clapped his hands twice as he stared at Caolin Blade, the scrum half had emerged with the ball from the base of a ruck inches from the try-line with the game on the line and the unbeaten Cheetahs leading by three. The forwards had done their job and the time was now right to set the backs free, well one back in particular, the man who had turned this game on its head in just ten short minutes.

Farrell didn’t disappoint with his final contribution to the contest. He showed to pass further wide but knew he had the beating of the men in front of him and from five metres, the replacement centre powered over for the second of his two quick fire tries to turn a ten point deficit into a glorious bonus point victory. It was the last play of a truly captivating contest between two fast paced sides which ebbed and flowed from the first minute.

For the 14-man Cheetahs, it was an unforgivable collapse, for the men in green it was a special Sportsground night akin to wins over Glasgow, Wasps and Toulouse in the years of Pat Lam. The kind of nights that have probably been missing in the past 12 months despite an impressive run of consistent solid results at the venue. In front of a vociferous and charged up home crowd, Connacht had gone through a rollercoaster of an evening, from leading by nine at half time, to trailing by eight by the 70 minute mark, creating the perfect setting for a show-stopping finale.

Since arriving as head-coach in the summer of last year, Andy Friend has had plenty of standout moments, reaching the PRO14 play-offs being the highlight, some neatly carved out away wins against the likes of the Cheetahs, Bordeaux and Ulster. At home there have been some high points, like beating Cardiff to secure a play-off spot and the hard fought victories over Sale and Ulster at Christmas too, but Saturday’s come from behind victory over the visiting South Africans felt different.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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