GLASGOW coach Gregor Townsend was disappointed not to have a home semi-final to give to their supporters, but insisted his side will come back more determined to beat Connacht in the last four.

Warriors must return to the west of Ireland on Saturday week for their semi-final, and face the challenge of becoming the first side to win an away semi-final if they are to defend their title in Murrayfield at the end of the month.

Last year’s winners lost their nine-game winning streak on Saturday and ended up in third place at the end of the 22-game season, but Townsend says his side will be armed with more knowledge of their opponents after that defeat.

“We viewed today as a quarter-final for our supporters to get back home was important. The history of the competition, no one has won an away semi-final and that’s a new challenge,” said the Warriors coach.

“If you are going to play an away semi-final, the team that you have just played against makes it a bit easier for us as coaches. We don’t have to watch four games, we just have to watch one. “There is going to be things that we are going to look at today, and say right this is a tough team, this is a tough place to come. There will be things we will we go right if we do this better then we have got more chance of winning.”

The sending off of prop Sila Puafisi hampered Townsend’s side for the last half hour of the last game of the season proper, and in the end Gordon Reid’s try was not enough to avoid a first defeat in ten games.

In front of a sold out 7,800 Sportsground Pat Lam’s side reached the last four for the first time, and with just one home defeat this season they will be confident of turning over Glasgow once again.

“We will certainly be more determined. The winning and losing is not the key factor, it’s if we play close to our potential. We didn’t do that today,” said Townsend.

“There was a couple of areas, with discipline, attack and defence. The players are disappointed with themselves that we didn’t play to our potential. If we had still lost or got the draw, then so be it. But we know we can play much better.

“We’ve obviously got a couple of injuries that we will look at, and we will see if Sila gets a ban. But I would imagine, other players will be in the mix for selection for sure and we will see how they train over the next week.”

Tries in each half from Bundee Aki and Tiernan O’Halloran proved sufficient for the home side as they ended up with second place in the final standings – their best finish ever.

Warriors will be disappointed with their return in the first-half especially, where Finn Russell missed two kickable penalties, and then missed a crucial kick to the corner during their spell of best pressure.

A better return from the tee and a more accurate overall performance will see Warriors in good shape in a fortnight.

“The game was very competitive I felt, and the first 20 minutes we controlled a lot of the territory by the way we were playing in attack, and then we gave a penalty away in our half, kicked to the corner and they score straight after.

“Then we had a couple of opportunities to score penalties but also to score tries in the 22 that we didn’t take. So those things are going to have to improve, but then I felt Connacht defended really well, and they did slow down our rhythm.

“We have got to look at that, what can do we do differently to make sure we are producing quick ball, second-half we are always up against it. Let’s not prepare for 14 men next time we’re here.”

While Alex Dunbar was helped off with a leg injury for Warriors, injuries will be a major concern for the home side as three Connacht props went off for head injury assessments during the game, while loosehead Ronan Loughney also went off injured.

It’s probably fortunate that there is two weeks between games, although Pat Lam hopes Denis Buckley might recover from a broken ankle in time.

“I was joking that some our props would fail that test even if they didn’t get a knock on the head – it’s a tough test.

“Obviously there is the hope that Denis Buckley will make it back. He got some good news but we have to prepare that he’s not there.

“I’m not sure about Nathan. It’s a day to day thing so hopefully he’ll come into the picture. I’ll just leave that to the medical staff.”

Scorers: Glasgow Warriors: Try: Ashe (73). Con: Weir. Pen: Russell (2), Weir (78) Benetton Treviso: Pen: Hayward (8, 31, 50)

Scoring sequence (Connacht first): 5-0, 7-0 (half time), 7-5, 7-7, 12-7, 14-7

Connacht: T O'Halloran; N Adeolokun, R Henshaw, B Aki (P Robb 74), M Healy; AJ MacGinty (S O'Leary 54), K Marmion (J Cooney 66); R Loughney (D Heffernan 56), T McCartney, F Bealham (R Ah You 3 HIA) (JP Cooney 52 HIA); U Dillane (Q Roux 73), A Muldowney; S O'Brien (E McKeon 62), J Heenan, J Muldoon.

Glasgow: S Hogg; T Seymour, A Dunbar (M Bennett 12), P Horne, L Jones (S Lamont 55); F Russell, A Price (G Hart 70); G Reid (J Yanuyanutawa 57), F Brown (P MacArthur 57), S Puafisi; L Nakarawa, J Gray (T Swinson 27-34 blood); R Harley (Z Fagerson 55), R Wilson (S Favaro 19-27 blood & 66), J Strauss.

Referee: I Davies (WRU).

Attendance: 7,800