WITHOUT ever setting the world alight, Connacht gave their prospects of qualifying for next year's Heineken Cup a major boost with this Celtic League victory at The Sportsgrounds yesterday.

Newport-Gwent Dragons were a pale shadow of the side that eclipsed Munster last weekend, and five penalties from man-of-the-match Mark McHugh won the day for the home team.

Connacht and Dragons are both chasing the elusive playoff slot that could prove the passport to Heineken Cup rugby, but on the evidence of yesterday's encounter neither team is equipped for the step-up in class. Connacht triumphed because when they got on top in the second-half, they had the wherewithal to kill the game off.

Dragons complied with their wishes with a performance that must have ensured plenty of long faces on the trip back to Wales.

Connacht boss Michael Bradley had gambled with a number of changes in his team after some indifferent displays, and the return of McHugh to the out-half position was one of the successes.

"We're delighted with the result. We had to work hard to get it, but the lads stuck with it and it's a very valuable win for us, " said Bradley.

The first-half was a nervous, lacklustre affair. Dragons were favoured by a breeze that grew as the half wore on, but the only highlight from a Connacht viewpoint was McHugh's assured tactical kicking. His booming kicks to the right corner were just about Connacht's only attacking weapon, but they rarely came to anything as Dragons merely regrouped and began another prolonged - if predictable - onslaught.

After five minutes, McHugh entertained dropped goal ambitions but it tailed off to the right. Four minutes later, he opened the scoring with an excellent penalty from 45 yards.

But there was little to back it up, and while Dragons were rarely better than sluggish, they were still able to conjure up a 14th-minute try by second row Luke Charteris.

The Connacht postmortem on the try will focus on how they lost possession when favourably located in the Dragons' half. Dragons tore upfield, and just when it seemed that Connacht had put the fire out, their generosity manifested itself again when full-back Paul Warwick bizarrely lost his footing under his own posts.

The rest was inevitable, Dragons making for the corner and full-back supplying the scoring pass to Charteris.

There was a bonus in the shape of Craig Warlow's outstanding conversion to put Dragons 7-3 ahead.

McHugh brought it back to one with a 27th minute penalty. The final 10 minutes of the half contained just one score - a Warlow penalty in front of the posts - and Connacht retired 10-6 adrift, and happy to be still in the game.

The hope that the breeze - continuing to rise - would give Connacht a lift in the second-half came to pass early on. Extensive pressure yielded penalties in the 44th and 49th minutes and McHugh slotted both to regain the lead, 12-10.

They were never to hand the lead back even if the singular absence of a creative streak behind the scrum meant they couldn't put daylight between themselves and Dragons. If McHugh didn't kick it, precious little happened. And even McHugh was affected by the malaise with an ill-advised, left-footed drop goal attempt that never threatened the posts.

Darren Yapp, doubtless struggling to overcome the boredom of his remote leftwing posting, cut inside to beat a few men and, in the process, advertised himself as the man who might do something magical. In a reshuffle, he was brought to the centre with Conor McPhillips coming on on the wing. But even that initiative died a death when Yapp picked up an injury and had to be replaced in the 78th minute. As Connacht held on, McHugh broke ranks with the mood of the day with an audacious 55yard drop goal effort that was just inches out.

A disappointing Dragons side could muster no response at all and spent the entire final quarter on the defensive. Connacht even flirted with the dream of a late try as they camped on the Dragons' line, but had to settle for another well-struck McHugh penalty in the 88th minute.

CONNACHT P Warwick; M Mostyn, A Mailei, G Williams, D Yapp; M McHugh, C Keane; R Hogan, J Fogarty, S Knoop; C Short, D Gannon; M Swift, J Muldoon; C Rigney Subs A Clarke for Hogan, 57 mins; C McPhillips for Mailei, 64 mins; D Sleman for Yapp, 78 mins; T Tierney for Keane, 86 mins

DRAGONS A Thomas; G Wyatt, J Bryant, C Sweeny, N Brew; C Warlow, G Baber; A Black, S Jones, R Thomas, I Gough, L Charteris, J Ringer, J Forster, M Owen Subs B Breeze for A Thomas, 52 mins; D Maddocks for Black, 66 mins; R Sidoli for Charteris, 66 mins; J Ireland for Baber, 72 mins Referee D Changleng (SRU)