Tenacious Irish outfit Connacht boosted their chances of securing a Guinness PRO14 playoff berth when they beat the Isuzu Southern Kings 31-14 at the Madibaz Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Sunday.
It was a fifth win from nine starts for the Galway-based team who are building up a head of steam as the competition nears the halfway mark.
After coming close to pulling off wins in their previous games against the Scarlets and Leinster, hopes had been high that the Kings could snap a four-match losing streak.
The Kings will need to regroup quickly, because they face another stern test of character against inventive Italian outfit Benetton Treviso in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Down 24-7 at the break, it was the Kings who showed early initiative in the second half as they attempted to fight their way back into the match.
The dangerous Kings backs were starting to stretch their legs, and replacement Ntabeni Dukisa had the crowd on their feet when he crossed for his team’s second try.
But Connacht put their heavy boot on the throat of the Kings again when Paul Boyle went in for his team’s fourth try after 62 minutes.
Replacement David Horwitz kicked the conversion to give his team a healthy 31-14 lead.
Connacht stormed out of the starting blocks from the opening whistle, and the Kings were forced on the defensive in the opening exchanges.
The Irishmen landed the first blow when fly-half Jack Carty kicked a penalty in the fourth minute.
The Kings were battling to get their hands on the ball, and Connacht continued to apply all the early pressure.
Connacht were rewarded when wing Cian Kelleher latched into a cross field kick from Carty to go over for the first try.
Carty made no mistake with the conversion to put his side ahead 10-0 after 12 minutes. This stung the Kings into action and they took the fight to the green-shirted Irish side.
Then it was Connacht’s turn to feel the heat.
Eventually nimble Kings fullback Masixole Banda found a way through the Irish defence to score the home team’s first try after 28 minutes.
Banda added the extras to reduce Connacht’s lead to 10-7.
Connacht turned up the pressure just before the halftime break, going on the offensive and driving their way deep into Kings territory.
After a succession of penalties, referee George Clancy lost patience with the Kings and sent prop Lupumlo Mguca to the naughty chair. That was just the start of the Kings’ first half troubles. Moments later Clancy awarded Connacht a penalty try.
That gave Connacht a 17-7 lead and put a spring into the step of the visitors, who shifted into a higher gear.
They were over for a third try when express-paced wing Matt Healey raced down the touchline to put Connacht ahead 22-7.