However, Scotstoun remained fairly subdued, with tension in the air.
The attendance was a respectable 3646, almost exclusively comprising home supporters, but they had to wait patiently before being able to celebrate and for the most part they did so rather more quietly than was ever the case at their old haunt across the city at Firhill.
"It was maybe down to the type of game," said Gregor Townsend, the Glasgow coach. "From a spectator's point of view we struggled to get that fluidity. There were a few mistakes and the weather wasn't great.
"It was great to hear them getting behind DTH [van der Merwe] and our back three for scoring those tries and getting the win."
Tom Ryder withdrew late on after a bout of illness while it also emerged that a training injury which had ruled out fellow internationalist Dunc Weir the previous day had been kept from their opponents. In what could have been regarded as a further bid to unsettle the Irish minnows, Connacht were left waiting on the pitch for several minutes before the hosts emerged.
However, there could be no misinterpretation of the respect which produced a well- observed minute's silence held in memory of Nevin Spence, the Ulster player who died with his father and brother in horrific circumstances last weekend.
Weir's understudy, Scott Wight, made his presence felt with a penalty from in front of the posts that had been earned by the Warriors' aggressive ruck defence as Connacht were forced to go off their feet to try to keep the ball, less than a minute into the game.
A second chance, following a lineout infringement, soon followed, but from longer range, just outside the visitors' 22, his attempt dropped under the bar.
The opening stages were uninspiring as Glasgow's attacking was largely confined to chip and chase, but they were defending with vigour and a combination of those two components produced the opening try midway through the first half.
Pressure on Gavin Duffy as he sought to field a Garryowen from Wight saw the ball fall loose and after his forwards scrambled back to set up a ruck, Kieran Marmion saw his attempted clearance charged down by eager Warriors. They also reacted first this time and their execution was superior to that of their opponents as the ball was shifted to the right wing, where Alex Dunbar sent Sean Lamont in for an unconverted score.
Their second try followed soon after and was the result of a swift counter-attack.
Put under pressure as he attempted to chip and chase down the right, Duffy pulled a muscle as he set off in pursuit. Worse was to follow as he saw the ball rapidly shifted to the opposite wing, which was loaded with Glasgow players. Provided with running room, Sean Lamont made ground then found support from Peter Murchie, who sprinted clear then cut infield to leave the last two men flailing. Wight converted to make it 15-0.
Anyone thinking the job was done understands nothing about Connacht's doggedness, though and they were back in contention with a try that was all too easily registered as Matthew Jarvis's chip behind the Glasgow defence gave Mark McCrea an age to touch down – so much so that he almost took too long, allowing Henry Pyrgos to get back and challenge, but the TV replay official was content that the winger got there first, with Jarvis converting the try.
Connacht threatened again soon after when Dave McSharry sliced through the Glasgow midfield on halfway and linked with his support, going right, where James Loxton beat the first man but was bundled into touch 12 metres out by the covering Dunbar.
The leeway was reduced ahead of the interval, though, by a long-range Jarvis penalty, leaving Glasgow with even more to think about than a change of kit that was very much required.
That removed any impression that confusion around the identification of the players had been the main factor in preventing the home support from making their presence felt, yet the stadium stayed almost eerily hushed as the second half began to unfold.
It seemed, instead, to reflect a sense of nervousness and that was not lifted by two tries within a minute at either end.
The first looked to have offered Glasgow breathing space as Connacht again failed to cope with a speculative Wight chip and DTH van der Merwe grabbed the loose ball to score under the posts.
However, from the restart Glasgow not only failed to field the ball, but guddled it again as they tried a second time. Nathan White could not believe his luck, the tighthead prop getting up after his touchdown and continuing to run all the way back to the halfway line.
The pressure was finally lifted with 10 minutes left and by a score sparked by the creativity of Ruaridh Jackson, the international stand off who has been made available to Ayr this weekend and said afterwards he still intends to play for them today.
His cross-field run and dummy took out two men before the ever-eager Murchie provided the support, then released Van der Merwe for his second try, which secured the bonus point and the win.
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