Connacht Rugby scored four tries to secure a 31-14 bonus-point victory over South Africa's Southern Kings in their PRO14 clash at the NMU Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Sunday.
The victory was a deserved one against a lively Kings side that slipped to an eighth defeat in nine games, while Connacht secured a fifth win of the season.
The visitors scored their tries through wings Cian Kelleher and Matt Healy, replacement loose-forward Paul Boyle and a penalty try as their forward power laid a solid platform.
The Kings looked well beaten in the contest, but managed tries via fullback Masixole Banda and wing Ntabeni Dukisa, both of those converted by the former.
After an early penalty from Jack Carty, Connacht scored the opening try when the flyhalf produced an excellent cross-field kick for Kelleher to canter over in the corner.
But the home side continued to battle and they got their try when they took the ball through a number of phases before Banda skipped past two defenders to score under the posts.
The Kings' inability to defend scrums in their own 22 has been an Achilles heel this season and so it proved again as after a number of resets, prop Luphumlo Mguca was sent to the sin-bin.
That left them a man light in the pack with flank Jurie van Vuuren sacrificed to bring on front-rower Alulutho Tshakweni and when the advancing scrum was illegally stopped seconds later, Connacht were awarded a penalty try on 36 minutes.
The visitors kept up the pressure and Healy crossed for a try in the corner as they simply spun the ball out wide and the Kings ran out of defenders to give Connacht a 24-7 halftime lead.
Kings started the second half the better side and once they were back to their full complement of players, scored the first try after the break.
An excellent break from Mguca started the move and some slick handling eliminated the Connacht defenders to allow Dukisa to score.
But the visitors were able to regroup and after spending a number of minutes in the Kings 22, they finally broke the home line as replacement Boyle barged his way over. Next up for Connacht is a meeting with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday, while the Kings will host Italian outfit Benetton on the same day.