Cardiff’s European Challenge Cup campaign came to an end as Connacht edged a highly entertaining encounter at the Dexcom Stadium. 

The Blue & Blacks were heading into the break with a slender lead after Rey Lee-Lo’s try but Connacht, claimed a second try on the stroke of half-time.

Connacht grabbed a try soon after the restart to take control of the encounter and while Cardiff battled back admirably, scoring a pair of fine tries through Ben Thomas and Josh Adams, they eventually cracked.

With marginal decisions going against them, Connacht made home advantage count with their international stars making key contributions, and took a significant stride back towards victory through Shayne Bolton. 

And with Matt Sherratt’s side chasing the game, Connacht dealt the knockout blow with minutes to spare as Paul Boyle barged over.

It took the hosts just three minutes to claim the first try at Dexcom Stadium. Following a succession of phases Mack Hansen picked up from the base of a ruck and offloaded out the back superbly to Matthew Devine, who crossed.

JJ Hanrahan added the extras and while Cardiff responded with a long period of pressure, they were soon penalised and left the Connacht half empty handed. 

Callum Sheedy responded with the boot on 12 minutes to cut the deficit and Cardiff weathered a storm as the midway point of the half passed. The Irish province piled on the pressure after kicking a penalty to the corner and went phase after phase but James Botham swooped for a fine turnover on his own line. 

Connacht again unlocked the Cardiff defence, this time thanks to a fine offload out of contact from Shayne Bolton but the next pass was forward and play brought back.

Two moments of magic from Taulupe Faletau put Cardiff in a scoring position shortly after the half hour mark. The eight broke off the back of a scrum and his show and go to Ben Thomas saw him make important yards. Possession was quickly recycled and a phase later he was on hand to take the ball at pace, grubber through and collect.

Hansen killed possession at the breakdown and was unsurprisingly shown yellow but the Blue & Blacks were unable to make the opportunity count as they soon knocked on. 

However there was no mistake on 38 minutes as Cardiff maintained possession and stretched Connacht from left to right before slick hands from Josh Adams and Teddy Williams put Lee-Lo into the corner.

Sheedy’s touchline conversion sailed narrowly wide but Cardiff now led by a point as half-time approached. 

There was more to come from Connacht in the closing stages and after Josh McNally was sent to the sin-bin and the home side given a succession of penalties, Sean Jansen powered over with the referee getting in Lee-Lo’s way. 

Hanrahan added the simple extras to make it 14-8 at the break, dealing Cardiff a significant blow. That was compounded less than two minutes after the restart as a fine Finlay Bealham offload paved the way for a Finn Treacy try. 

Hanrahan converted to give the Irish outfit a 21-8 lead and Cardiff faced an uphill challenge. However, they had come back from a greater deficit in Galway weeks earlier and on 54 minutes Ben Thomas scored a second fine team try. 

The effort was sparked by a quick-tap from Sheedy in his own 22 and with Liam Belcher and Johan Mulder carrying like men possessed, the Blue & Blacks surged up field. Eventually, Thomas bumped off a defender and spun out of contact to ease clear.

With Sheedy receiving treatment, Thomas knocked over the conversion and it was not long until Cardiff bagged another stunning team try. 

Harri Millard laid the foundations with a mesmerising break as he jinked and wriggled past four defenders. The break gave his side front foot possession and they once again showed a ruthless streak and willingness to attack. Alex Mann burst through midfield and then fired a long pass off his left, which any fly-half would be proud of, to put Adams over. 

Thomas was narrowly off target with the conversion but Cardiff were now just a point adrift at 21-20.

Cardiff soon had the opportunity to take the lead with a fourth try as Ben Thomas put them right into the corner but they were penalised for blocking at the line out. 

However, Connacht turned the momentum on its head on 65 minutes as Kiwi star Josh Ioane sliced through midfield and Bolton graved a second despite the best efforts of Winnett and Adams.

Ioane converted from the touchline and Paul Boyle wrapped up the win on 77 minutes.