Connacht peak once again in the Valleys

Celtic League/Llanelli - 21 Connacht - 29: Constant reassurance should be unnecessary, but if further evidence is required that Connacht are fulfilling their brief to develop Irish talent, look no farther than Stradey Park.

Last year's Celtic Cup victory at the same venue provided the platform for the province's first competitive semi-final, while a draw later in the season sustained a solid Celtic League momentum. On Saturday evening, coach Michael Bradley, understandably, was looking ahead to Europe.

"The victory has certainly given us a degree of confidence that we are competitive yet again," he said. "The quality of play is right up there with what we require to have a good run in Europe."

Certainly pleased to extract an unexpected maximum points from the home of the league champions, and continue the provinces's unbeaten run at the venue, Bradley was more concerned with the form of his returning players, and Ray Hogan, Steven Knoop and Michael Swift all made impressive first starts of the season.

"Obviously they were missing Simon Easterby, which was a plus for us, but our youth is a positive factor and in this case it prevailed over experience," he said.

"With the wind strong enough to cause problems in the first half, we worked very hard to maintain possession and run down the clock."

A try just before the interval was a bonus, particularly after the home outfit, playing with the wind, had swept into a 10-0 lead when scrumhalf Dwayne Peel slipped in for a ninth-minute try and Bowen added the conversion to an earlier penalty.

Llanelli, with the edge up front, kept Connacht pinned inside their own half, but while John Fogarty and Matt Lacey epitomised Connacht's work ethic up front, left wing Ted Robinson stemmed Llanelli's lines of attack out wide.

Connacht struck their first blow when Conor O'Loughlin scrambled over from their first real attack inside their opponents' 22, and although Llanelli went in at the break with a 13-7 lead, it was a poor return for possession won.

Connacht took the lead soon after the resumption with a fine individual try by Robinson, springing from the base of a ruck to outsprint the defence from 30 metres.

Now, with some fine tactical kicking from Warwick, replacement Eric Elwood, and David Slemen, Connacht rediscovered their attacking form and increasingly exposed the Llanelli defence, with James Downey and Mark McHugh working well in a new midfield partnership.

Downey's straight burst set up a try-scoring platform that Conor McPhillips exploited with aplomb after 60 minutes.

Llanelli hit back with a Bowen penalty and Dafydd Jones try, but McHugh's penalty from half way regained the lead by a single point before captain and lock Andrew Farley demonstrated his side's superior keenness with a relieving kick that set up Michael Swift for a fourth try and bonus point, denying the home side any consolation.

Scoring sequence: 3 mins: Bowen pen 3-0; 9: Peel try, Bowen con 10-0; 43: O'Loughlin try, Warwick con 10-7; 46: Bowen pen 13-7; HT 13-7; 47: Robinson try, Warwick con 13-14; 60: McPhillips try 13-19; 64: Bowen pen 16-19; 70: D Jones try 21-19; 74: McHugh pen 21-22; 85: Swift try, Elwood con 21-29.

LLANELLI: G Evans; T Selley, M Watkins, M Taylor, S Finau; G Bowen, D Peel; I Thomas, M Rees, J Davies, V Cooper (capt), A Jones, D Jones, G Thomas, S Quinnell. Replacements: M Phillips for Peel (41 mins); P John for Davies, C Wyatt for A Jones (49 mins).

CONNACHT: D Slemen; T Robinson, J Downey, M McHugh, C McPhillips; P Warwick, C O'Loughlin; R Hogan, J Fogarty, S Knoop, P Myburgh, A Farley, M Swift, M Lacey, M Carroll. Replacements: J Muldoon for Carroll (H-T); E Elwood for Warwick (55 mins); H Bourke for Fogarty (58 mins); C Short for Myburgh (63 mins); A Clarke for Hogan (64 mins); M Walls for Slemen (80 mins).

Referee: A Ireland (Scotland).