John Muldoon sympathises with Andrew Conway over red card
Connacht skipper John Muldoon was delighted with tonight’s victory over Munster in Galway although very relieved in the end to have helped his side hold out under mounting pressure.
After a shaky start to the season, Muldoon said that a couple of victories recently had helped his side prepare for what he termed as a “massive challenge.”
He said: “It has been tough at times early in the season, we have a new coach and new systems to get used to. I think the key thing for us is that we’re getting better and better every week.
"I think the confidence of the last couple of weeks when we got a couple of wins gave us a bit of energy out there, it has been a while since I heard the crowd like that, we spoke about that at half time about the need to get the crowd to row in behind us, to give them something to cheer about so that they could help bring us home.
He went on to praise his players for holding out Munster for the win.
He said: "It was a massive defensive effort and it was great to be able to close it out there at the end. The history book tells us it is a one score game so we tried to make sure we kept our discipline even though we did give away a couple of stupid penalties, but look it was really important to get a win right now.
"We have another big game against the Cheetahs coming up before the break so it will be important to get some continuity. We need to push on next week and improve again, the key thing is to get some improvement week on week."
Muldoon admitted he felt some sympathy for Munster winger Andrew Conway who was sent off for a bad challenge in the second half.
He said: "The red card was important in such a tight game, the red card was possibly a bit harsh, it was probably (more) a yellow but any time you go around the neck it is always a bit of a lottery, but that’s what Nigel Owens is there for, he’s the best in the business and he makes those type of calls."
Connacht coach Kieran Keane was delighted with the win and the performance.
He said: "I was happy with just about everything, it was never comfortable but it never is in these situations, we will enjoy this, it was well deserved, there is a lot of spirit in the camp and this will allow us to forge on but we can’t lose sight of the fact that we don’t sit very high on the table."
