It was a night of frustration for Dragons RFC as they lost 31-07 to Connacht Rugby in the United Rugby Championship at Dexcom Stadium.
It was the hosts that settled the quicker on a fast artificial track and who opened the scoring on six minutes when Boyle crashed over after a series of powerful forward carries.
Connacht added to their lead when wing Shayne Bolton broke down the right wing and when play was fed back inside it was Bundee Aki who powered on and released Blade to score Connacht's second try of the match.
With two minutes to play, Cian Prendergast added a third try to the score sheet to put the home side in total control in Galway leading 19-00 at the halftime break.
Connacht had won their last eleven URC fixtures against Welsh teams and held the Men of Gwent at bay before Cathal Forde wrapped up the bonus-point try with six minutes remaining.
Replacement Basham ensured Dragons had something to show from the fixture but the final act went to Matthew Devine as he crossed with the final play securing a 31-07 win for Connacht.
Scorers:
Connacht Rugby: Tries: Paul Boyle, Caolin Blade, Cian Prendergast, Cathal Forde, Matthew Devine. Conversions: Cathal Forde (3).
Dragons RFC: Try: Taine Basham. Conversion: Angus O’Brien.
Teams:
Connacht Rugby: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 Cathal Forde, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Cian Prendergast (c), 5 Niall Murray, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 1 Peter Dooley. Replacements: 16 Eoin de Buitléar, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 Sean Jansen, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Hugh Gavin.
Dragons RFC: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Ewan Rosser, 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Ben Carter (c), 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Oli Burrows, 1 Cameron Jones. Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Luke Yendle, 19 Steve Cummins, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Lloyd Evans, 23 Harry Wilson.
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