Newport Gwent Dragons 27 Connacht 19: Connacht were cast even further adrift at the foot of the Celtic League after being edged out in this bottom-of-the-table clash at Rodney Parade last night.
David Slemen kept Michael Bradley's side in the contest throughout with a 16-point haul that included a first-half try as Connacht pushed their hosts all the way.
Yet for all their toil, 14-man Connacht were undone by a try five minutes from time which condemned them to a 10th defeat in the Celtic League and leaves them 11 points behind the Ospreys, who were awarded four points on their week off.
The only plus was the return of utility back Mark McHugh, who made his first appearance since damaging knee ligaments in a pre-season friendly against Leicester.
Connacht arrived at Rodney Parade on the back of a rousing victory over Ulster that ended a miserable eight-game losing run.
But preparations were hit by the failure of their inspirational captain Andrew Farley to pass a late fitness test on a knee while prop Ray Hogan had already been ruled out with a foot injury.
The loss of two key forwards hurt Connacht, who struggled for parity against a Newport pack on a high after their New Year's Day victory over the Ospreys on the same ground.
Peter Sidoli was virtually unchallenged in winning a lineout 10 yards inside Connacht's half and Newport's backs did the rest. Craig Warlow's long pass to Hal Luscombe had the Dragons back screaming forward and when Conor McPhillips missed his man, Gareth Chapman was over after 12 minutes.
Not much later and the Dragons scrum this time had Connacht on the back foot, the shove was on and number eight Michael Owen was gifted the easiest try as the visitors back-pedalled across the try line.
Yet all the time Connacht continued to profit from Newport's mistakes and somehow led after more than half an hour through Slemen's opportunism.
Warlow missed both conversions and a penalty while Slemen slotted two efforts before capitalising on Sione Tuipulotu's error to cross for five points. Newport's full-back misjudged the flight of McPhillips's lofted kick and the ball bounced into the hands of Slemen, who had a clear passage to the posts.
Newport's response before half-time was emphatic. Again the scrum went for the jugular and this time Scottish referee Ian Heard pointed under the posts for a penalty try after the Connacht scrum had collapsed for a third time.
Slemen trimmed the lead to a single point with another penalty soon after Mark McHugh had taken the field for the first time this season as a replacement for wing John Hearty. And the introduction of John Fogarty, Stephen Knoop and Andrew Gallagher enabled Connacht to finally match their hosts up front.
Paul Warwick, a 54th replacement for Slemen, and Warlow traded a penalty apiece to leave the game finely poised at 20-19 as the game entered the nail-biting last quarter.
Connacht did so with one man in the sinbin after prop Dan McFarland was singled out by referee Heard when their scrum went down once again. It proved to be the decisive moment.
Bradley's men held out with just seven forwards but a minute before McFarland returned to the field, Newport made their advantage count when Connacht's three-quarters were penalised for offside. Dragons skipper Forster rejected the shot at goal, asking Warlow to kick for the corner and was rewarded with a try himself with the full weight of his pack behind him.
Warlow converted and the bonus point was in the bag five minutes from time.
NEWPORT-GWENT DRAGONS: S Tuipulotu; G Chapman, H Luscombe, J Bryant, B Breeze; C Warlow, G Cooper; A Black, S Jones, R Thomas; I Gough, P Sidoli; A Hall, M Owen, J Forster (capt). Replacements: J Ringer for Hall (59 mins), B Griffiths for Gough (79 mins). Tries: G Chapman, M Owen, penalty, J Forster. Cons: C Warlow (2). Pen: C Warlow.
CONNACHT: M Mostyn (capt); J Hearty, A Mailei, K Matthews, C McPhillips; D Slemen, C Keane; D McFarland, J Merrigan, A Clarke; C Short, D Gannon; M Swift, C Rigney, M Lacey. Replacements: M McHugh for Hearty (39 mins), J Fogarty for Merrigan, S Knoop for Clarke, A Gallagher for Gannon (all half-time), P Warwick for Slemen (54 mins), B O'Connor for Swift (65 mins), A Clarke for O'Connor (68-76 mins). Try: D Slemen. Con: D Slemen. Pens: D Slemen (3), P Warwick.
Referee: Ian Heard (Scotland).
