Connacht recorded back to back wins in the Challenge Cup, surviving a late French resurrection to come within a whisker of blowing what looked like a healthy lead.

The win did come with a price however as Paul Boyle went off clutching his arm, while Gavin Thornbury was stretchered off shortly after the half time whistle was sounded, 

Points looked on the cards for the visitors to settle them into the game after three minutes, Brive penalised and a close range penalty was awarded for Conor Fitzgerald to try and convert, the kick looked toward the scale of a lower degree of difficulty but it went wide of the target.

A let off for the hosts but they would have something to shout about minutes later, they worked hard to get close to the Connacht line, they had a penalty of their own awarded and Argentina fly-half Nicolas Sanchez split the posts for a 3-0 lead after eight minutes.

Connacht were left chasing the game but three consecutive lineouts close to the Brive line, warranted their first score of the game, after a couple of mauls shy of the line a somewhat rather fortuitous pass to David Hawkshaw was a little lost in communication, but it allowed him to get a little space and after a TMO consolation the try was awarded with Fitzgerlad adding the extras for a 7-3 lead by the 12th minute.

It would go from bad to worst for the hosts on the 20 minute mark, as former Connacht man Abraham Papali’i was red carded after a high tackle on Shamus Hurley-Langton, the TMO called play back and match referee Adam Leal ruled that Brive would permalty have 14 men on the field for the remainder of the contest.

The man advantage would aid Connacht in getting a second try after 28 minutes with Tom Daly managing to get over, again their maul superb in camping right on the try line, it looked like a forward would power over but the Centre spotted a gap to cross the whitewash, Fitzgerald more confident at the tee to make it 14-3 for the Western Province.

Connacht continued their purple patch as the hosts would go down to 13 men Tevita Ratuva sent to the bin with a yellow card, they would continue to press this time exploiting Brive out wide as Diarmuid Kilgallen added another try after scoring last weekend, he touched down in the corner doing well to avoid being tackled out of play, again we had to wait for the TMO but his body was in touch as he grounded for the third try of the evening, Fitzgerald’s conversion record impeccable as they moved 21-3 clear.

A quick restart as far as the scoreboard was concerned helped push the Connacht lead out further, Shane Delahunt was in great form when it came to his lineout distribution, but his try scoring was also on show as he powered his way over from close range to secure the bonus point try, Fitzgerald four from four from conversion attempts, the 28-3 lead putting the visitors into the driving seat.

Ill discipline was showing more and more for the hosts and it showed again as just as they had 14 men restored to the field, it was back to 13 with Vano Karkadze the next to be sent to the sin bin with a yellow card.

Brive tried to come back and put some points on the board, they had two attempts the first was ruled out by the TMO, the second a beautiful kick in behind looked to have not been grounded by Tom Raffy but it was awarded and the lead cut down to 28-10 on the hour mark.

The try would not suck any energy out of Connacht as they kept pressing for further scores, Fitzgerald would land a penalty minutes later to keep Connacht a nice distance clear of the hosts, who looked brighter having 14 men back on the field. 

It was a phenomenal Brive effort late on to comeback at Connacht and leave them stressing toward the end, two Kevin Fabien tries with Thomas Laranjeira on hand to get the extras left the score 31-24 with five minutes left, the comeback was sensational but not to be as Connacht just had time on their hands and possession to hold out.