GLASGOW Warriors’ reign as PRO12 champions is at an end, killed off by a combination of Connacht’s remarkable resilience and their own inability to find their best form when it mattered most.

Man for man, Glasgow have better players than Connacht, and had they played at their best they would surely have gone through to Saturday’s final against Leinster at BT Murrayfield. But, in near perfect conditions for running rugby, they rarely attacked with the verve which won them the trophy 12 months ago.

The fearsome will to win of the Connacht defence had a lot to do with that, and there was no doubting that the better team won on the day, but that can be little consolation. After going to the top of the table with nine wins in a row before that last fixture, the Warriors appeared to have gathered unstoppable momentum. Instead, their season ended in two defeats at the same venue

The near perfect conditions had offered the prospect of an enthralling semi-final between the two most enterprising sides in the PRO12, and it was certainly more open than the rainsoaked affair a fortnight earlier. But Connacht, who won that league match 14-7, were still able to take a stranglehold when it mattered most, to claim a place in their first final.

Glasgow were dealt a blow in the opening minute when Finn Russell and Zander Fagerson collided while both tried to get to grips with Aki as he embarked on his first attack. Both the stand-off and the tighthead prop received treatment on the field before being substituted - Russell by Duncan Weir and Fagerson by Darcy Rae.

Play resumed after an eight-minute delay, and apart from a dangerous break by Connacht scrum-half Kieran deep into Glasgow territory, the defences held sway for the first quarter of an hour.

The Warriors were under more pressure, however, conceding a string of penalties during that time. When they got an award in their own half, Weir was over-ambitious with his kick, and just failed to find touch on the edge of the home 22.

The champions made a similar fankle of another penalty which they did kick to touch, as Fraser Brown failed to find Jonny Gray from the throw-in and Connacht were able to clear the danger. It was the sort of opportunity that Gregor Townsend had warned his team they had to take, and it contrasted with the clinical way in which Connacht finished off a move with which they thought they had opened the scoring midway through the first half. Tiernan O’Halloran made the first break, and then a long pass found Eoin McKeon clear on the right wing. He crossed the line and touched down close to the posts, but the score was ruled out after a television replay showed that Aki had knocked on in the build-up.

The first score was not long delayed, however, as Aj MacGinty knocked over a penalty with 24 minutes on the clock. It was a merited lead, but one that did not last, as a minute later Weir replied with a penalty from just outside the 22.

Simone Favaro then went off injured to be replaced by Adam Ashe. Glasgow then had their best spell of the half, pinning Connacht back with some accurate tackling, but five minutes from the break the lead was regained.

Niyi Adeolokun collected a kick through from Aki, and scored after spinning clear of both Henry Pyrgos and Weir when they looked to have closed him down. MacGinty converted, and the score stayed at 10-3 at half-time.

Leone Nakarawa had briefly given Glasgow hope of going in level when he crossed the line between the posts, but he was held up. Even so, the Warriors were still well in the game, but knew they would have to cut down on unforced errors and get their lineout functioning properly if they were to come back into the contest.

Playing into the wind, Glasgow began the second half at a far higher tempo, and although too hasty at times, they eventually built a platform from which Nakarawa scored. Mark Bennett did most of the good work initially with an evasive run infield, then a speedy recycling allowed the Fijian to force his way over from inside the five-metre line.

Weir missed the conversion attempt, however, and soon MacGinty was on target with another penalty to make it 13-8. But Glasgow went back on the attack, and when given another chance to reduce the deficit the replacement stand-off made no mistake.

Going into the last quarter, Connacht could have kicked more points, but chose to go to touch then drive a maul from the lineout. The ploy was foiled, but with just over 15 minutes left MacGinty was on target with another penalty to restore his team’’s five-point lead.

That still left Glasgow more than time enough to get the full score they needed to win, but it was Connacht who kept up the pressure. They thought they had got the decisive score when Adeolokun performed exceptionally well to touch down in the corner, but again it was ruled out - this time for accidental offside.

Pinned back in their own half, the Warriors needed to pull off something magical to get back on terms. With eight minutes to play, Rodney Ah You was sinbinned for a high tackle on Stuart Hogg. Having played the last half-hour two weeks ago a man down after Sila Puafisi’s sending-off, this was surely an invitation to Glasgow to believe that their fortunes had turned. But try as they might, they could hardly run the ball out of their own half, never mind to the far end of Connacht’s.

CONNACHT: Try: Adeolokun. Con: MacGinty. Pens: MacGinty 3.

GLASGOW WARRIORS: Try: Nakarawa. Pens: Weir 2.

Connacht: T O’Halloran; N Adeolokun, R Henshaw, B Aki (P Robb 71), M Healy; A MacGinty, K Marmion (J Cooney 60); R Loughney (R Ah You 65), T McCartney, F Bealham (D Heffernan 71), U Dillane (A Browne 62), A Muldowney, E McKeon (S O’Brien 62), J Heenan, J Muldoon. Unused substitutes: JP Cooney, S O’Leary.

Glasgow Warriors: S Hogg; T Seymour, M Bennett, P Horne (T Naiyaravoro 71), S Lamont; F Russell (D Weir 2), H Pyrgos (G Hart 71); G Reid (R Grant 63), F Brown (P MacArthur 62), Z Fagerson (D Rae 2), J Gray, L Nakarawa, R Wilson, S Favaro (A Ashe 29), J Strauss (T Swinson 66).

Referee: M Mitrea (Italy).