GLASGOW were at their clinical best as two tries from Niko Matawalu helped them to a bonus point-win over Connacht at the Sportsground and seal their place in the play-offs.
The result meant it was seven wins in a row for Gregor Townsend's men over the Galway side and the five tries they scored put them in pole position for a home semi-final spot, which would be sealed with victory against Ospreys in a fortnight.
Matawalu and Stuart Hogg crossed in the first half to give Glasgow a 19-6 lead at the break, with late tries from Adam Ashe and Tommy Seymour putting a gloss on the victory.
"Obviously this guarantees us a semi-final so the next goal is to try to finish in the top two," said Glasgow coach Gregor Townsend. "We're a point better off than we were last week compared with Ulster. We know we've got to win at least one game in our next two matches."
Even though Connacht trailed at half time, they had a solid start after fly-half Jack Carty twice kicked penalties as the home side punished some ill-discipline from the Warriors.
Glasgow were always going to gain a foothold at some stage and it materialised in the 26th minute. A Connacht scrum didn't go according to plan and Glasgow broke. After some sensational off-loading, the play was switched and Fraser Brown found Matawalu who raced home for their first try.
Finn Russell missed the conversion and Connacht still led 6-5, but a couple of poor kicks at goal from Carty meant Glasgow were not further punished for their breakdown work.
But then Warriors showed why they are the league leaders and with Connacht sloppy off their own line-out they moved their way up field. Seymour found a gap in the Connacht defence and he broke, finding Hogg on his shoulder, who touched down for Glasgow's second of the day.
Russell's conversion made it 12-6 and with Connacht reeling, Matawalu pounced, as Robbie Henshaw tried to put Tiernan O'Halloran through, to take possession and race in for his second try.
That was on the stroke of half time and Russell's second successful kick made it 19-6.
"That was very important," said Townsend. "We would've been probably happy 6-5 down, the way the first 35 minutes had gone, so to be 19-6 up at half time was fortunate but you've got to make the most of your opportunities."
But Connacht are a third-quarter team and after the break they found their stride again as they looked for a way back into the game. Glasgow were being penalised frequently and referee Marius Mitrea showed Seymour yellow when he was off his feet.
That prevented a scoring opportunity for Connacht but more were to come and Aly Muldowney was on the end of one of them to make it 19-13 when Carty converted. It came after a period of intense pressure where Henshaw was held up close to the line and with Denis Buckley diving for the whitewash he was stopped only for Muldowney to be on hand.
It was a shot in the arm for Connacht and it looked like they would move even closer when Carty was presented with a penalty directly in front of the posts, but he skewed his kick poorly and their heads began to drop.
Fusaro was shown yellow on the hour for a high tackle on Eoin McKeon but Connacht couldn't push home their advantage and when Josh Strauss broke the Connacht line, he put Ashe away for the bonus point try. From then on, the result was never in doubt and Seymour's try in the 74th minute finished things off nicely.
Glasgow: S Hogg; T Seymour, R Vernon, P Horne, N Matawalu; F Russell, H Pyrgos; J Yanuyanutawa, F Brown, E Murray; L Nakarawa, J Gray; R Harley, C Fusaro, A Ashe. Subs Used: R Grant, J Welsh, K Bryce, J Strauss, T Swinson, L Jones, P Murchie, D Weir. Yellow cards: T Seymour 47, C Fusaro 60.
Connacht: T O'Halloran; D Poolman, R Henshaw, B Aki, M Healy; J Carty, K Marmion; D Buckley, T McCartney, R Ah You; U Dillane, A Muldowney; J Muldoon, E Masterson, E McKeon. Subs Used: J Cooney, A Browne, D Leader, G Naoupu, M Nikora, R Loughney, F Bealham, S Delahunt.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy). Attendance: 4430
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