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Glasgow picked up their first win at the Sportsground in Galway for six years but it was not enough for a home draw in the Pro12 play-offs.

Following a Ruaridh Jackson drop-goal, DTH Van der Merwe plunged over for a first-half try in the heavy rain.

A slippery ball and gusting winds made it a largely scrappy encounter.

But the introduction of Niko Matawalu sparked Glasgow into life late on and his scintillating break lead to a great score from Sean Maitland.

Glasgow finish third in the table and will travel to Leinster in next weekend's semi-final, while Connacht end the season in eighth place.

The game marked three significant farewells for the home side, with coach Eric Elwood moving on and flanker Johnny O'Connor and replacement hooker Adrian Flavin hanging up their boots.

But it was the visitors who had the most at stake, having already claimed a play-off spot for the second year running but hoping for a slip up from Leinster or Ulster to finish in the top two.

Former Glasgow favourite Dan Parks had a shot at the posts following a penalty inside the first minute but the wind caught the fly-half's effort and it sailed wide.

Jackson then succeeded with a drop-goal from distance, which clipped a post on its way over.

And soon after Gregor Townsend's team extended their lead, with Jon Welsh and Sean Lamont making significant ground before winger Van der Merwe handed-off one opponent and spun out of a tackle to get over the line.

With the wind behind him, Jackson sent the conversion on target from out wide.

Welsh was shown a yellow card for a scrummage infringement but Connacht could not make their advantage in personnel count as they struggled with the wet ball in hand.

Indeed, Glasgow were inches away from going further ahead after a series of rapid offloads ended with Jackson's final pass dropping just short of Van der Merwe's groping fingers when a score looked certain.

And it was back to 15 v 15 when Parks knocked over a routine penalty just before the interval.

After the restart, Jackson saw a penalty carried well wide by the wind and Connacht enjoyed their best spell, with Glasgow pinned back defending their line.

However, the hosts made a mess of a line-out in the corner and immediately lost the resulting scrum for an early engagement.

Having toughed out that tricky spell, Glasgow were given a boost by the introduction of scrum-half Matawalu and Lions pair Maitland and Stuart Hogg for the final 18 minutes.

Hogg immediately nailed a penalty and an explosive burst from the Fijian led to the evening's second try.

Glasgow's player of the year was as elusive as a shadow, dancing past four home players before slipping the ball to Maitland, who motored into the corner with a trail of green and black shirts in his wake.

Hogg then thumped over an impressive conversion but that was to be the last of the scoring.

Matawalu continued to jink and deceive and was denied a flamboyant try when he opted to go over the top of a cluster of bodies, only to have the ball knocked from his grasp before landing.

Glasgow continued to press but wins for Ulster and Leinster meant they could not move up the table.

Connacht: Duffy, Poolman, E. Griffin, B. Murphy, Vainikolo, Parks, Marmion, Wilkinson, Reynecke, Loughney, Swift, McCarthy, Browne, O'Connor, McKeon. Replacements: O'Donohoe for Marmion (62), Ah You for Wilkinson (41), Flavin for Reynecke (55), Cooney for Loughney (70), Kearney for O'Connor (51), Muldoon for McKeon (49). Not Used: Fifita, Nikora.

Glasgow: Murchie, Seymour, S. Lamont, Horne, van der Merwe, Jackson, Pyrgos, Low, MacArthur, Welsh, Swinson, Ryder, Harley, Barclay, Wilson. Replacements: Hogg for Jackson (64), Matawalu for Pyrgos (64), Grant for Low (51), Kalman for Welsh (51), Eddie for Swinson (72), Strauss for Harley (51). Not Used: Hall, Maitland.

Sin Bin: Welsh (23).

Att: 4,000

Ref: George Clancey (RFU).