Connacht 10
Leinster 16

Connacht's quest for a victory over an Irish province continues to agonise after Leinster were let off the hook in woeful conditions at the Sportsground on Friday night.

IN FULL FLIGHT...Connacht full-back Gavin Duffy tries to crack the Leinster cover during Friday night's Magners League clash at the Sportsground. Photo: Declan Monaghan.

Connacht were bitterly disappointed not to have notched their first win in four years against Leinster having had about 80% of the possession during a contest played in a typical Sportsground night of wind and rain.

Irish international Shane Horgan may only have come on at half-time and managed to get his hands on the ball just a couple of times, but he still managed to produce the decisive strike of this Magners League clash at the Sportsground last night.

But Michael Bradley's men almost snatched it at the death with a move from inside their own 22 into the wind and rain, with the phases measured by the dozen than individually, as they inched the ball up the field in several minutes of non-stop driving.

However, even though replacement Leinster prop Cian Healy was binned five metres from his own line, Connacht were unable to cross as Leinster defended superbly to maintain their position at the top and give a further boost to their Magners League title hopes.

In the end, Horgan's strike for their only try of the game, coupled with some excellent kicking from Felipe Contepomi, ensured they prevailed.

Connacht, with the gale at their backs, dominated the opening half and should have been much further than 10-3 in front at the break.

Leinster were on the backfoot for nearly all of that half, only once making any inroad into the Connacht 22 but they made that count.

Michael Swift was penalised for coming in at the side and Contepomi slotted the kick in front of the posts — although the wind was so strong that it blew the ball back into the field of play before it landed.

That score levelled the match after Andy Dunne had put Connacht in front with a penalty from the ten metre line after eleven minutes.

However, he was off target with two earlier attempts as Connacht failed to make their superiority count on the scoreboard.

They created a few try-scoring chances, the best of which fell to Colm Rigney after 28 minutes from a five-metre lineout but he failed to hold knocked on at the tail with the line in his sights. However, Connacht gave themselves hope with an excellent strike just before the break when Conor O'Loughline fed his out-half Dunne whose switch pass sent Keith Matthews in under the posts.

Dunne added the points to give Connacht a seven points interval advantage in front of a packed Sportsground.