Injury-hit Connacht beat Newcastle to remain top
Sunday 13 December 2015 22:06, UK
Injury hit Connacht remain top of Pool 1 of the Challenge Cup after a deserved 25-10 victory over Connacht in the Sportsgrounds.
The Westerners had it much tougher than expected but were never behind and came good when it mattered in the closing stages to seal a deserved win.
Connacht's injury crisis worsened before the start when captain Tiernan O'Halloran was forced off with a quad injury. This required Matt Healy, who covered scrum-half last week, to switch from the wing to full-back.
However, in perfect conditions, Connacht took control and Jack Carty kicked two penalties to leave the home side leading 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Falcons got off the mark before the interval when out-half Craig Willis converted a penalty only for Carty to restore Connacht's six point advantage to leave the score 9-3 at the break.
Carty hit three more penalties in the second-half before replacement Danie Poolman broke through to score five minutes from the end.
