HAT-TRICK HERO... Connacht's Danny Riordan who scored his second hat-trick against Cetransa El Salvador on Sunday.

Cetransa El Salvador 0
Connacht 60

Danny Riordan scored a hat-trick for the second time this season against Spanish minnows Cetransa El Salvador to give Connacht a glorious chance of reaching the quarter-finals of the European Challeng Cup.

Connacht will now meet Brive at the Sportsground next Friday evening with the winners almost certain to claim the eighth and final place in the quarter-finals.

Michael Bradley's men, 75-8 winners when they met in Galway before Christmas, left nothing to chance at Campo de Pepe Rojo in Valladolid on Sunday.

The untypical freezing conditions in the northern Spanish city saw Connacht play into the strong wind in the opening half in front of a crowd of almost 3,000.

The game was over as a contest by half-time as Connacht ran in three tries for a 22-0 lead, with the home side reduced to fourteen men when centre Jose Revilla was binned for persistent offside after 20 minutes.

Andy Dunne gave Connacht a third minute lead with a penalty and he also converted the opening try from Riordan five minutes later.

Winger Aidan Wynne and No.8 Colm Rigney also got in for first-half tries. Connacht opened their shoulders after the restart and ran in six more tries.

Riordan got a brace to complete his hat-trick, while replacement scrum-half Conor McPhillips crossed for a couple.

The rout was completed with touchdowns from Ray Ofisa and his replacement Johnny O'Connor. Former Australian U-21 Liam Bibo, an Irish-qualified goal-kicker, crowned his debut with three conversions after coming on as a replacement.

With results elsewhere going in their favour, Connacht now just need to defeat Brive in a winner-take-all clash at the Sportsground next Friday.

Connacht:
Tries: Riordan (3), McPhillips (2), Wynne, Rigney, Ofisa, O'Connor.
Cons: Dunne (3), Bibo (3). Pen: Dunne

Cetransa El Salvador: L Stanley; T Brouwer, J Revilla, R Van Eyk, L Gascón; A Gutiérrez, D Hunter; I Insausti, D Marrón, M Serrano, S Souto, ó Benito, F Galloppa, J Molina, I Criado.
Replacements: E Fernandez for Stanley, 47 mins; C Caballero for Insausti, 54 mins; J Zapatero for Marron, 61 mins; I Gutiérrez for Van Eyk, 75 mins.

Connacht: G Duffy; D Yapp, D Riordan, M Deane, A Wynne; A Dunne, C O'Loughlin; B Wilkinson, J Fogarty, R Morris, M Swift, A Farley, M McCarthy, R Ofisa, C Rigney.
Replacements: L Bibo for Yapp, half-time; C McPhillips for O'Loughlin, half-time; D Gannon for Rigney, 47 mins; T Donnelly for Dunne, 49 mins; R Loughney for Morris, 52 mins; J O'Connor for Ofisa, 55 mins.

Referee: G Garner (England)

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