Tries from Huw Jones and Tommy Seymour were not enough for Glasgow Warriors as their six-game winning streak against Connacht came to an end at the Sportsground.
Nick Grigg’s try before half time had given Warriors a deserved advantage at the break and despite Adam Hastings’ penalty early in the second half, Connacht fought back with three tries of their own, including a brace from Irish international Bundee Aki.
Warriors were given a sniff of a comeback victory when Seymour finished off a good move on the right 10 minutes from time, but home out half Jack Carty clinched the win with a penalty five minutes from time.
Warriors coach Danny Wilson said: “We’re very disappointed to be honest. I think our discipline let us down with way too many soft penalties in key areas and at key times in that game. There was a couple of poor decisions that left us pretty exposed.
“To go away from home and score 24 points you should win the game so it tells us a lot abut the areas that we need to keep banging away at.
“I thought we had some really good defensive sets tonight and at times managed that relatively well, but we fed them a little bit at times with some poor decision making and some poor discipline.”
With just 100 supporters dotted round the Sportsground there was still a bright atmosphere in the chilly sunshine, and Warriors gave them plenty to shout about early on.
A breakdown infringement from Oli Kebble inside his own 22 allowed Carty to kick Connacht into a 3-0 lead after two minutes, and in the following minutes the pressure continued to be applied by Andy Friend’s side.
Kebble was again penalised at a scrum on halfway, which saw Connacht camp out in Warriors territory, before Hastings was punished for a high tackle on winger Peter Sullivan. The concession of a third quick penalty resulted in a warning for Warriors, but they were let off the hook when Carty pulled it to the left.
Playing into the setting sun the Warriors back line also had the elements against them, but the pressure was finally released when skipper Fraser Brown galloped clear following an overthrown line-out from the home side.
Kebble won his side a scrum penalty, which kick-started their period of dominance and after 16 minutes they almost crossed for a try, but the final pass from Jones to Robbie Nairn did not go to hand with the try-line gaping.
After turning down a couple of kickable penalties, Warriors were boosted when Quinn Roux was sin-binned for a no arms tackle, but when Hastings finally aimed for the posts, he missed from close range.
Despite the concession of the yellow card, Connacht continued to concede penalties, but they were also defending well as Warriors’ attack lacked sharpness. Points seemed certain for Glasgow though, as their driving line-out gained yardage with Brown in the driving seat, but after a couple of attempts, scrum-half Kieran Marmion stepped up with some good maul defence to end the Glasgow attack.
With Connacht rushing up on the edge of their defensive line it was hard for Warriors to get the ball wide, but any time they did they made plenty of yardage. And just before half time one such break brought Warriors
to within striking distance and Hastings’ off-load sent Grigg over behind the posts. Hastings made sure of the extra points as Warriors took a deserved 7-3 lead into the break.
After conceding nine first-half penalties, referee Craig Evans would have been keeping a close eye on Connacht, and six minutes after the re-start he punished them harshly at the breakdown. Hastings added to their woes with a well struck penalty from the 10-metre line.
Warriors’ defence needed to be sharp to deny winger Sullivan following Alex Wootton’s chip up the line after 49 minutes, but two minutes later there was no stopping the home side when Aki popped up with a blistering line to score. Carty’s conversion levelled matters at 10-10.
A few minutes later Connacht took the lead again when Roux powered over from close range and Carty converted, but just as the game appeared to be
escaping Warriors, Jones ran in his side’s second try following a big carry from Matt Fagerson and a smart inside pass from Hastings.
The slow-rolling Scott Cummings allowed Carty to kick Connacht into the lead 17 minutes from time and moments later Aki chased down Wootton’s chip to score his second try.
Eight points down, Warriors gave themselves a chance when Grigg sent Seymour clear and Hastings converted with nine minutes remaining.
But when Fotu Lokotui failed to roll away from the tackle zone, Carty kicked Connacht 28-24 ahead and they held on for the win.
Scorers, Connacht – Tries: Aki 2, Roux. Cons: Carty 2. Pens: Carty 3.
Glasgow Warriors – Tries: Grigg, Jones, Seymour. Cons Hastings 3. Pen: Hastings 1.
Connacht: J Porch; P Sullivan, T Farrell, B Aki (S Arnold 66), A Wootton; J Carty, K Marmion (C Blade 59); D Buckley (J Duggan 71), D Heffernan, F Bealham (A Aungier 54); G Thornbury (N Murray 77), Q Roux; J Butler, C Oliver (S Masterson 54), P Boyle.
Glasgow Warriors: H Jones; T Seymour, N Grigg, S McDowall (P Horne 61), R Nairn (R Tagive 54); A Hastings, A Price (G Horne 71); O Kebble (A Seiuli 60), F Brown, D Rae; R Harley, S Cummings (R Gray 71); R Wilson, C Fusaro (F Lokotui 61), M Fagerson.
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales).
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