Celtic League/ Llanelli Scarlets 25 Connacht 17: Connacht's "best performance to date" was not good enough to maintain their unbeaten away record over the Llanelli Scarlets on Saturday.
The Racecourse at Wrexham may well have been regarded by Llanelli fans as an away venue, but it proved a happier hunting ground than Stradey Park, where Connacht have notched successive wins in the Celtic League.
Connacht looked well capable of adding another, leading at half time by 7-5, but an error-ridden second half allowed the Scarlets maintain their unbeaten record at the home of Wrexham FC.
Llanelli coach Gareth Jenkins was encouraged by aspects of a "patchy" performance, but said there was still a lot of work to do before their visit to Munster.
Connacht coach Michael Bradley also had mixed feelings.
"The best performance of the season to date so the indicators are heading in the right direction, but we are very disappointed not to have got something from it.
"At the moment we are tinkering rather than making structural changes to the team and we are likely to change it around again for the Borders match. Before the first European match I would hope to have used most if not all of the players," he said.
Bradley made four changes from the heavy defeat to Edinburgh, and while the lineout was better, Llanelli were able to upset their rhythm in the second half.
Two missed touch finders from penalties, an errant lineout, and two mistakes from restarts compounded Connacht's second-half woes as they handed the initiative back to the Scarlets, who also had the benefit of the wind.
Connacht had grabbed an 18th-minute try when Paul Warwick launched a midfield kick, followed through with a kick ahead, won the touchdown under the posts, and added the conversion.
The Connacht backline looked the more creative, save for Llanelli's man of the match, Lee Byrne, who forced several try-saving tackles from the visitors.
Up front Connacht got little change from a Llanelli pack in which an industrious backrow featuring Simon Easterby had the edge. In hooker Aled Gravelle Llanelli also had a strong runner who featured in two tries, the first just on half-time when he finished off a driving maul.
Outhalf Gareth Bowen missed the conversion but added a penalty two minutes after the restart to give his team the lead for the first time. It provided them with the necessary impetus, while Connacht seemed to hit a roadblock.
When a lineout ball was claimed by lock Inoke Afeaki 35 metres out, the home pack drove Connacht to within a yard of their line before the former Tongan skipper picked and dived over.
A drop goal from David Slemen kept Connacht in touch, but Llanelli hit back on the restart when replacement John Muldoon was caught in possession, Bowen adding the penalty.
Even the sinbinning of replacement lock Dave Duley failed to kill off the Scarlets' renewed vibrancy as they struck for a third try when Byrne won the high-ball contest from Slemen and raced in under the posts.
Connacht kept plugging away and were rewarded when replacement hooker Chris Venter added a try from a forward drive. But it was insufficient to prevent two successive on-the-road defeats.
SCARLETS: L Byrne; T Selley, D James, R King, D Daniels; G Bowen, C Stuart-Smith; I Thomas, A Gravelle, J Davies, I Afeaki, A Jones, L Mills, S Easterby (capt), A Popham. Replacements: D Duley for Afeaki (65 mins), R Davies for J Davies, G Quinnell for Mills (76 mins), C Hawkins for Gravelle (83 mins).
CONNACHT: D Slemen; M Mostyn, D Yapp, K Matthews, C McPhillips; P Warwick, T Tierney; D McFarland, J Fogarty, S Knoop, C Short, A Farley (capt), M Swift, B O'Connor, C Rigney. Replacements: J Muldoon for Swift, M Lacey for O'Connor (54 mins), D Riordan for Warwick (59 mins), C Venter for Fogarty, A Clarke for McFarland (75 mins), C Keane for Tierney (76 mins).
Referee: David Changleng (SRU)
