Tries from Eoin Griffin and Gavin Duffy helped Connacht to a 17-13 Pro12 win over the Dragons at the Sportsground on Friday.
The Dragons looked set for their first win in west Ireland for seven years when they held a 13-3 half-time lead despite playing against the elements.
The Welshmen scored the only try of the first half when a great break by centre Pat Leach, then Matthew Pewtner - from a well-worked line-out move - led to tight-head Dan Way going close.
Way was scragged just short of the line, but fellow prop Nathan Williams was in support to pick up and crash over the Connacht line.
The rest of the points before the interval came via the boot, with Connacht's Niall O'Connor successful with one of his two attempts at goal, while Jason Tovey managed three from five in tough conditions for goal kicking.
Connacht wasted little time in clawing their way back into the contest, with Eoin Griffin receiving a brilliant offload from Tiernan O'Halloran to go over the opposition line from a first phase move. Matt Jarvis landed the conversion.
After a period of further pressure, Connacht took the lead when Gavin Duffy started and finished a well-worked move.
Jarvis converted to make it 17-13 with 15 minutes remaining and there was no further way back for the Dragons who ended the match hanging on for the losing bonus point.
For Connacht:
Tries: Griffin, Duffy
Cons: Jarvis 2
Pens: O'Connor
For Dragons:
Try: Williams
Cons: Tovey
Pens: Tovey 2
Connacht:15 Gavin Duffy (C), 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Henry Fa'afili, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Frank Murphy, 8 Ray Ofisa, 7 Johnny O'Connor, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Dave Gannon, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Dylan Rogers, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 TJ Anderson, 21 Paul O'Donohoe, 22 Mathew Jarvis, 23 James Loxton.
Dragons : 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Matthew Pewtner, 13 Pat Leach, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Geraint O'Driscoll, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Joe Bedford, 8 Andrew Coombs, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Lewis Evans, 5 Rob Sidoli, 4 Adam Jones, 3 Dan Way, 2 Tom Willis (c), 1 Nathan Williams
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Phil Price, 18 Nathan Buck, 19 Darren Waters, 20 Jevon Groves, 21 Wayne Evans, 22 Tom Riley, 23 Matthew Jones
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