Ronaldson stars as Connacht take spoils

ALLEN CLARKE’S first PRO14 game in charge of the Ospreys ended in a 26-15 defeat to Conference A rivals Connacht at the Sportsground. Eoghan Masterson’s try on the stroke of half-time gave Kieran Keane’s men a 13-5 lead, as they made it seven successive home wins in all competitions. Apart from Dafydd Howells’ welltaken 18th-minute try, Connacht’s defence managed to frustrate Ospreys. The visitors coped well during Hanno Dirksen’s sin-bin period, Sam Davies swapping penalties with Craig Ronaldson, before tries at either end from Tom Farrell and Reuben Morgan-Williams. Ronaldson sealed victory with his fourth penalty of the night. Fly-half Ronaldson, who was returning from injury, converted the second of two early penalty attempts for a 3-0 lead. Ashley Beck and Kieron Fonotia then combined to release Howells who finished in the corner. Ronaldson then kicked Connacht back in front with a 24th-minute penalty. Two costly penalties ended promising spells from Ospreys, and Connacht stung them with a try. The home forwards carried strongly, before Caolin Blade fed Masterson to drive low and score to the left of the posts, with Ronaldson converting. Davies closed the gap back to 16-8 before poor defending allowed Farrell to dart clear for a 68thminute try, converted by Ronaldson. Morgan-Williams scrambled over three minutes later — but Ronaldson’s left boot secured the result. CONNACHT: O’Halloran (Pita Ahki ’10); Kelleher, Griffin, Farrell (Carty ’72), Healy; Ronaldson, Blade (Mitchell ’71); D Coulson (McCabe ’60), McCartney (Delahunt ’60), Carey (Robertson McCoy ’59); Browne (Thornbury ‘16), Cannon; E Masterson (Connolly ’75), N Dawai, J Muldoon.Scorers — Tries: Masterson, Farrell. Pens: Ronaldson (4). Cons: Ronaldson (2) OSPREYS: Evans; Dirksen, Fonotia, Beck, Howells (Thomas ’50); Davies, T Habberfield (RMorgan-Williams ’60); Jones (Smith ’50), Otten (Parry ’50), Arhip; Ashley (Mercer ’70), King; O Cracknell, Jones (Cross ’46), McCusker. Scorers — Tries: Howells, Morgan-Williams. Pens: Davies. Cons: Davies Sin Bin: Dirkson (53). Referee: S Berry (South Africa).