RUGBY UNION: MATT FINISH JUST ENOUGH

FLANKER Matt Lacey was the Connacht hero at the Sportsground when his try four minutes into stoppage time snatched victory.

Connacht's hopes of a quarter-final spot in the European Challenge Cup seemed dead and buried until Lacey dived over in the left corner.

The massive Worcester pack dominated the opening half but yet they trailed 11-10 at the break after Conor McPhillips got in for a late try.

Earlier, Worcester's dominance up front yielded a try after 22 minutes from hooker Chris Fortey when they mauled their way over from a lineout.

Paul Warwick extended Connacht's lead with a penalty from the right after 52 minutes.

Drahm, one of five players to spend time in the bin for killing the ball, marked his return with another successful penalty before Warwick pushed Connacht 17-13 ahead after 57 minutes with another kick from the right.

With the Worcester pack waning, they brought their backs more into play and it paid going into the final quarter when South African international Thinus Delport got in at the corner.

Drahm missed the difficult conversion but extended their lead with twelve minutes remaining when he landed a penalty from 25 metres to put them 21-17 in front.

But Connacht were not finished and produced one last rally to save the day.

Replacement scrum-half Tom Tierney sprayed quick ball from the right and by the time it reached the left touchline, Lacey was in full flight to take in and barge his way over for the match-winner.

Connacht coach Michael Bradley praised his men: "The lads showed great composure and it is a big win for us and we can go on from here and build on it," he said.

CONNACHT: Tries: McPhillips, Lacey. Pens: Slemen 2, Warwick 2.

WORCESTER: Tries: C Fortey, Delport. Con: Drahm. Pens: Drahm 3

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