Niyi’s first half treble secures home quarter

By JOHN FALLON

NIYI Adeolokun ran in a brilliant hat-trick as Connacht sealed a home quarter-final.

Kieran Keane’s men were devastating from the outset and were always in control against the French strugglers. “The game was won in the first-half, that was very pleasing, it was good to get those early scores,” said Keane.

“It became a bit more muddled in the second-half but we are pleased overall with the way we have played in the pool.

“We would love to win this competition. We are at home now in the quarterfinals so let’s just see how far we can go.”

Adeolokun gave them a perfect start with two tries in the opening three minutes as Oyonnax were left reeling.

Kieran Marmion was superb and he put fellow Irish squad member Bundee Aki over for the third try after just twelve minutes, with Craig Ronaldson’s conversion making it 19-0.

Oyonnax finally got their hands on the ball and built a few phases and they were rewarded when Puma fullback Alex Muller finished off a sustained bout of pressure with a converted try after17 minutes.

But the response from Connacht was excellent with Tiernan O’Halloran securing the bonus point after less than 20 minutes when set up by Matt Healy.

Adeolokun completed his hat-trick just before the half hour mark after another good move which prised open the Oyonnax rearguard.

And then Healy, the latest Connacht player to hit the 100 appearances mark, raced through to score in the left corner. Oyonnax did not give up and winger Daniel Ikpefan pulled back a try before the break to leave it 36-14 at the interval.

Both sides emptied their benches after the restart and the game became more disjointed but Tom Farrell crossed for Connacht’s seventh try after 67 minutes, and the rout was completed with a late penalty try.

TEAMS

CONNACHT: O’Halloran 8; Adeolokun 9 (Gallagher 73, 6), Griffin 7, Aki 8 (Farrell 48, 8), Healy 8; Ronaldson 7 (Kelleher 33, 8), Marmion 8 (Blade 48, 8); Coulson 8 (McCabe 70, 7), Heffernan 7 (Delahunt 55, 7), Carey 8 (Robertson-McCoy 49, 7); Dillane 8, Roux 7; Masterson 8, Dawai 8 (Connolly 55, 7), Muldoon 8.

OYONNAX: Muller 8; Ikpefan 7, Seuteni 6, Hansell-Pune 6, Giresse 6 (Veau 66, 6); Fuertes 7 (Lima 35, 6), Hall 7 (Audy 57, 6); Vartanov 6 (Raynaud 51, 6), MacDonald 7 (Geledan 51, 6), Laclayat 6 (Mirtskhulava 33-75, 7); Fabbri 7, Njewel 6 (Kerry 73, 6); Browning 6, Taieb 7, Tauleigne 6 (Barba 51, 6)

REFEREE: Craig Maxwell-Keys

ATTENDANCE: 5,017

Star man

Niyi Adeolokun – Connacht