Connacht 37-8 Glasgow: Glasgow given a galling lesson in Galway by classy Connacht

Connacht 37Glasgow 8Referee: T Hayes (WRU)Attendance: 1,268

Glasgow's wait for a win on the road continues and they left the west of Ireland empty-handed after being steamrollered by a Connacht side who completed successive Magners League wins for the first time in four and a half years.

In the process Connacht completed the double over Glasgow this season but while their meeting in Firhill back in September went down to the wire, this was as one-sided as the five-one try count would suggest.

Glasgow did have a decent amount of possession in the second-half — albeit when the game was up — but even then they were not able to garner a few consolation tries.

Connacht led 18-8 at the end of a cracking first half but could have been out of sight by that stage.

Glasgow were on the back foot for most of the opening half and quickly found themselves behind as Connacht came out of the blocks rapidly.

An Ian Keatley penalty after three minutes instilled confidence in Eric Elwood's men as his Munster-bound out-half took his Connacht total in the Magners League to 400 points.

Glasgow did not help their cause by a series of basic errors and it was a particularly frustrating opening half for scrum-half Colin Gregor whose handling let him down.

But it was hooker Fergus Thomson who was at fault for Connacht's opening try after nine minutes when he conceded a free-kick for delaying a lineout throw just outside his own 22.

Connacht quickly worked through the phases and it was winger Brian Tuohy who carved the opening in the right corner for his third of the campaign — all coming against Scottish opposition having nabbed a brace at Murrayfield before Christmas.

Neither team covered themselves in glory on the restarts and Glasgow were quickly handed an opportunity to respond and the pressure paid off.

Fast-thinking winger DTH van der Merwe tapped a penalty on 12 minutes and while the Connacht cover did their job initially, the ball was sprayed wide through Ruaridh Jackson for Bernardo Stortoni to cut through the defence and set up Hefin O'Hare for his second try of the campaign in the right corner.

But Glasgow did not build and Connacht regained possession to again pile on the pressure and while the visitors' upfront tackling was not found wanting, Keatley shredded them with a grubber kick for his full-back Gavin Duffy to race through and score, the conversion making it 15-5 after 17 minutes.

Again Glasgow responded well and Jackson reduced the deficit with a penalty three minutes later, but he headed for an early interval break when he was binned after 37 minutes for hauling down Tuohy as the Connacht winger chased a break with a clear run to the line.

Keatley landed the difficult penalty from the right for a ten-point interval lead, and they wrapped up the issue three minutes after the restart.

Again Keatley was the architect when he broke from deep to set up another player who will leave in the summer, with Fionn Carr equalling Conor McPhillips' record try haul of 32 touchdowns when he sauntered to the line.

Keatley added the points as Connacht turned on the style, again breaking from deep with Tuohy getting his second try of the night in the right corner after 46 minutes.

Inevitably, Connacht took their foot off the gas with the bonus point in the bag but Glasgow were unable to respond as both teams emptied their benches.

But the dominant Connacht pack got their reward after 61 minutes with a penalty try after Glasgow were penalised in the scrum, with Keatley adding his third conversion on a night when he turned on the style.

Glasgow's night was summed up when they were camped inside the Connacht half for most of the last quarter but still could not manage a try despite an abundance of possession.

Connacht's win now takes them above Glasgow in the table with only newcomers Aironi below them after a season which promised so much but which is rapidly running out of steam.

They will hope to arrest the slide when they entertain the Dragons next week but on this form a major improvement is going to be required.

Scorers: Connacht: Tries: Tuohy (2), Duffy, Carr, Pen try; Cons: Keatley (3). Pens: Keatley (2). Glasgow: Try: O'Hare. Pen: Jackson

Connacht: G Duffy; B Tuohy (S Monahan, 72), N Ta'auso, T Nathan, F Carr; I Keatley (M Nikora, 66), F Murphy (C Willis, 63); B Wilkinson (R Loughney, 68), S Cronin (A Flavin, 68), J Hagan (R Ah You, 53); M Swift (B Upton, 62), M McCarthy; A Browne, J O'Connor, R Ofisa (M McComish, 53).

Glasgow: B Stortoni (D Weir, 61); H O'Hare, F Aramburu, P Murchie (P Horne, 54), DTH van der Merwe; R Jackson (H Pyrgos, 61), C Gregor; R Grant (J Welsh, 47; Grant 67), F Thomson, E Kalman (K Tkachuk, 56); A Muldowney (R Wilson, 54), T Ryder; R Harley (C Fusaro, 60), C Forrester, J Beattie.