The Irish eventually had to play second fiddle in the Celtic League quarter-finals as Glasgow grabbed a place in the semis by pipping Connacht 34-29 in a cliffhanger.

The Scots, who survived late pressure from the hosts, now face a tricky return trip to Ireland to face Leinster next weekend.

The Scots found themselves six points adrift before they established any sort of rhythm. Rory Kerr spilled an up-and-under from Eric Elwood in the first minute, allowing Elwood to slot a snap drop-goal.

Elwood then landed an angled penalty from 40 metres, but this sparked the Warriors into action. A powerful charge by Roly Reid set up the perfect platform, and centre James McLaren shrugged off three markers to reach the line. Hayes added the extra points - only to see Elwood fire over another penalty to edge Connacht back in front.

Glasgow bagged their second touchdown thanks to a bold piece of running by Jason White. Again Hayes was spot on with the conversion - and then he created a useful 11-point cushion with two penalties.

It was tit-for-tat stuff as Elwood hit back with another penalty and then converted from wide on the right after Tony Robinson took full advantage of slack tackling to claim a Connacht try in first-half stoppage time.

But Glasgow got the decisive break in the 52nd minute. Andy Nicol disrupted a Connacht scrum on their own line and alert flanker Gareth Flockhart pounced on the loose ball. Hayes was on target again.

Elwood stroked over another penalty to keep the province in the hunt, but Hayes showed his all-round talent by nipping in for a marvellous solo touchdown, which he calmly converted.

Connacht were still not done for, though, and Elwood converted a sniping try by Kiwi wing Wayne Munn under the posts to set up a dramatic finale.