Feisty opposition, testing conditions, a one-eyed referee and two yellow cards conspired against the Stormers as they went down 19-17 to Connacht in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash in Galway on Saturday.
The defeat will be deflating for the Stormers who were looking forward to building more momentum ahead of a sequence of seven home matches.
The Cape side, who had travelled to Ireland on the back of some solid performances, absorbed early pressure and played themselves potentially into a winning position before they were blown off course by breeze and referee.
Two yellow cards in the second half meant the Stormers were plugging holes instead of making play in the last quarter.
The match which kicked off in blustery conditions was scrappy from the start.
Handling errors were the order of the day but the imprecision wasn't entirely down to the conditions. Both teams exerted huge pressure on the ball carrier, while the non-feeding team applied the squeeze at the set pieces.
In such a disruptive atmosphere the first quarter was devoid of rhythm and continuity.
Connacht held the early ascendancy seeing the bulk of the possession and territory but they were repelled by the Stormers.
It was the hosts on their first meaningful advance into Connacht territory that struck a telling blow.
They bashed the ball up through their forwards with Deon Fourie and captain Steven Kitshoff cutting prominent figures before the ball was whipped out wide to fullback Sergeal Petersen who was unmarked.
The hosts and their crowd then found their voice.
Connacht laid siege to the Stormers' 22 making most of their headway at close quarters.
Eventually the visitors' relented allowing No8 Paul Boyle to crash over next to the poles.
It's proximity to the poles made the conversion a formality but the breeze stiffened and was increasingly creating havoc.
In fact, it was from a Garryowen that the Stormers' profited when the ball held up in the breeze bounced favourably for Petersen who toed it ahead.
The defence caught up with him but the Stormers had sufficient momentum to get Damian Willemse over the tryline.
Manie Libbok then pounced on a loose ball and ran half the length of the field for a try that helped hand the visitors a comfortable buffer.
But it didn't last long.
A yellow card to Petersen for a deliberate knock on presented the home side a life line.
Connacht made that advantage count when scrumhalf Kieran Marmion broke blindside well inside his own territory before some impressive offloading led to a try for centre Tom Daly.
With just three points in it with 13 minutes to go the Stormers' discipline again let them down when Ruhan Nel was sin binned for a high hit.
Connacht seized the moment.
A try for right wing Peter Sullivan in the left hand corner gave them a two-point lead and they held onto it until the end.
Scorers:
Connacht (19) - Tries: Paul Boyle, Tom Daly, Peter Sullivan. Conversions: Conor Fitzgerald (2).
Stormers (17) - Tries: Sergeal Petersen, Damian Willemse, Manie Libbok. Conversion: Libbok.
Rugby
Stormers go down fighting in Ireland
Image: Evan Treacy/INPHO/Shutterstock/BackpagePix
Feisty opposition, testing conditions, a one-eyed referee and two yellow cards conspired against the Stormers as they went down 19-17 to Connacht in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash in Galway on Saturday.
The defeat will be deflating for the Stormers who were looking forward to building more momentum ahead of a sequence of seven home matches.
The Cape side, who had travelled to Ireland on the back of some solid performances, absorbed early pressure and played themselves potentially into a winning position before they were blown off course by breeze and referee.
Two yellow cards in the second half meant the Stormers were plugging holes instead of making play in the last quarter.
The match which kicked off in blustery conditions was scrappy from the start.
Handling errors were the order of the day but the imprecision wasn't entirely down to the conditions. Both teams exerted huge pressure on the ball carrier, while the non-feeding team applied the squeeze at the set pieces.
In such a disruptive atmosphere the first quarter was devoid of rhythm and continuity.
Connacht held the early ascendancy seeing the bulk of the possession and territory but they were repelled by the Stormers.
It was the hosts on their first meaningful advance into Connacht territory that struck a telling blow.
They bashed the ball up through their forwards with Deon Fourie and captain Steven Kitshoff cutting prominent figures before the ball was whipped out wide to fullback Sergeal Petersen who was unmarked.
The hosts and their crowd then found their voice.
Connacht laid siege to the Stormers' 22 making most of their headway at close quarters.
Eventually the visitors' relented allowing No8 Paul Boyle to crash over next to the poles.
It's proximity to the poles made the conversion a formality but the breeze stiffened and was increasingly creating havoc.
In fact, it was from a Garryowen that the Stormers' profited when the ball held up in the breeze bounced favourably for Petersen who toed it ahead.
The defence caught up with him but the Stormers had sufficient momentum to get Damian Willemse over the tryline.
Manie Libbok then pounced on a loose ball and ran half the length of the field for a try that helped hand the visitors a comfortable buffer.
But it didn't last long.
A yellow card to Petersen for a deliberate knock on presented the home side a life line.
Connacht made that advantage count when scrumhalf Kieran Marmion broke blindside well inside his own territory before some impressive offloading led to a try for centre Tom Daly.
With just three points in it with 13 minutes to go the Stormers' discipline again let them down when Ruhan Nel was sin binned for a high hit.
Connacht seized the moment.
A try for right wing Peter Sullivan in the left hand corner gave them a two-point lead and they held onto it until the end.
Scorers:
Connacht (19) - Tries: Paul Boyle, Tom Daly, Peter Sullivan. Conversions: Conor Fitzgerald (2).
Stormers (17) - Tries: Sergeal Petersen, Damian Willemse, Manie Libbok. Conversion: Libbok.
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