Connacht secured a record victory at The Sportsgrounds when they outclassed Italian side Cavalieri Prato in their Amlin Challenge Cup tie on Saturday evening.
The signs were ominous for the visitors from a very early stage when they missed a penalty from in front of the posts inside the first few minutes. They paid dear for that miss when, on nine minutes, Brian Tuohy secured the game’s opening try, to give Connacht a 5-0 lead.
To their credit, the visitors bounced back with a try of their own and, when that was converted, they led 7-5. That was as good as it got for Prato as the home side pressed forward in relentless fashion.
Touhy added his second try to put Connacht back in front with less than 15 minutes on the clock. After a conversion and a penalty, Ian Keatley ran in a smashing individual try as Connacht stretched away from their Italian rivals.
Further tries from Mike McCarthy, Niva Ta’auso (2), Fionn Carr, Sean Cronin, a third from Brian Tuohy and one each from Mike McComish, Adrian Flavin and Ray Ofisa ensured the men from the West finished the evening with a record tally of 83 points to just 7 for their opponents.
