Connacht’s tempo dropped noticeably after the turn and the second half was characterized by a lack of rhythm and sloppy play from both sides.
Again the Dragons enjoyed a lot of possession and territory while still having the upper hand in the air, but were unable to convert this into any kind of points until the final stages.
Connacht will have been left frustrated by their own efforts to secure a bonus point that looked like a formality at the break.
When the fourth try finally arrived seven minutes from the end, replacement scrum-half Matthew Devine provided the spark needed, and he burst down the line before sending Cathal Forde on for the score.
With just over three minutes remaining, the Dragons managed to get on the scoreboard.
Angus O’Brien’s brilliant 50:22 kick turned the field over and, despite a poor lineout, Taine Basham cleared the loose ball and got over the line.
But Connacht had the final say as Devine capped off his impressive cameo with an intercept score on the final play of the game.
Connacht: O’Connor; Bolton, Ford, Aki, Cordero; Ioan, Blade; Dooley, Tierney-Martin, Bilham; Joyce, Murray; Prendergast (Captain), O’Brien, Boyle.
shift: De Butlier, Buckley, Aungier, Murray, Jansen, Devine, Ralston, Gavin.
Dragon: Evans; Dyer, Westwood, Owen, Ewan Rosser; O’Brien, Blacker; Jones, Burroughs, Coleman; Carter (Captain), Screech; Lewis-Hughes, Cady, Wainwright.
shift: Coghlan, Seiuli, Yendl, Cummins, Basham, Williams, Evans, Wilson.
judgment: Gianluca Gnecki (FIR)
