Connacht's Gavin Duffy is tackled by Rhys Priestland

Connacht (14) 20
Tries: O'Loughlin
Pens: Dunne 5

Scarlets (6) 18
Pens: Priestland 6

The Scarlets' Magners League hopes suffered a setback with a 20-18 defeat at the hands of Connacht in Galway.

Kicking was the order of the night with Andy Dunne landing five penalties for the Irish side and Rhys Priestland kicking six penalties for the Scarlets.

Conor O'Loughlin scored the only try of the game after 34 minutes to help Connacht to a 14-6 half-time lead.

A tired looking Scarlets outfit were missing stars Stephen Jones, Dwayne Peel, Alix Popham and Vernon Cooper.

A busy festive schedule of three matches within nine days appeared to take its toll on the Scarlets but Connacht have now lost just one of their last six home games at the Sportsground.

Dunne scored three first-half penalties for Connacht and Priestland replied with two to keep Llanelli in touch.

O'Loughlin swooped to claim the game's only try as he blocked down a clearance kick from Priestland on the visitors' 22 and won the race for the touchdown.

Dunne and Priestland again demonstrated their kicking prowess after the break and although the Scarlets edged ahead 18-17, Dunne's final penalty ensured success for the home side.

Connacht: G Duffy; D Yapp, M Mostyn, M Deane, A Wynne; A Dunne, C O'Loughlin; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, R Morris; D Gannon, A Farley (capt); M McCarthy, J O'Connor, C Rigney.
Replacements:J Fogarty, R Loughney, M Swift, R Ofisa, C McPhillips, T Donnelly, P Durcan.

Scarlets: Morgan Stoddart; Dafydd James, Matthew Watkins, Regan King, Mark Jones; Rhys Priestland, Liam Davies; Phil John, Matthew Rees, Bruce Douglas, Adam Eustace, Scott Macleod, Simon Easterby (capt), James Bater, Nathan Thomas.
Replacements (from): Deacon Manu, James Hayter, Dafydd Jones, Jonathan Edwards, Gavin Cattle, Ceiron Thomas, Nathan Brew, Garan Evans, Daniel George.

Referee: Andy Macpherson (SRU).