Connacht 20
Llanelli Scarlets 18

Andy Dunne was the Connacht hero when he snatched a dramatic victory with an injury-time penalty to secure a super Magners League win at the Sportsground on Friday night.

DUNNE AND DUSTED . . . Connacht out-half Andy Dunne who landed an injury-time penalty to seal victory over Llanelli Scarlets at the Sportsground on Friday.

It looked like it would be the same old story for Connacht as Llanelli edged in front for the first time in stoppage time.

But Michael Bradley's refused to let their heads hang and went on the offensive and forced a penalty. Dunne had no hesitation in pointing to the posts even though it was from 30 metres on the left ? and into the teeth of a gale.

But his kick never strayed from its target and netted what could turn out to be the decisive score as Connacht try to claim a place in the Heineken Cup for the first time next season.

Connacht needed to build a first-half lead given that they had the wind and rain at their backs and their 14-6 interval advantage left them with a lot to do.

Llanelli, still smarting from having been caught at the death by the Dragons earlier in the week, were content to sit back and saturate everything Connacht had to throw at them.

Neither side managed many line breaks and in such a tight encounter the game was always likely to hinge on one break or mistake.

That came seven minutes from the interval when Conor O'Loughlin charged down a clearance from Rhys Priestland and managed to keep his composure to chase and touchdown in the right corner.

Dunne failed to get hold of the conversion but that was the only kick which went wayward all night. The 28 year old, in his first season with Connacht, gave them a perfect start with a penalty after four minutes, but they coughed up an equaliser when conceding just outside their 22 ten minutes and Priestland landed the first of his six kicks.

Dunne landed two more penalties in a three-minute spell for Connacht to lead 9-3 at the end of the first quarter but once more Priestland was presented with a penalty, this time under the posts, on a rare Llanelli attack.

The concession of those scores seriously weakened Connacht's case but O'Loughlin gave them breathing space with his try.

Roles were reversed in the second-half as Connacht tried to contain Llanelli as they faced the elements and after holding out initially, their situation became precarious after 55 minutes when Priestland landed a 35 metre kick.

Crucially, it was Connacht who got the next score when Dunne kicked superbly into the teeth of the wind from 35 metres to restore their eight-points lead after 65 minutes.