Dan Parks was the key man for Connacht as he slotted three penalties, two drop goals and a conversion for a personal haul of 17 points.

Eric Elwood's men led for all but five minutes of this Round 3 encounter after Fetu'u Vainikolo's well-taken try surpassed Dimitri Yachvilli's second-minute penalty.

Yachvili closed the gap to a single point just before the halfway point of the half after he had missed two previous attempts in comparison to one failure from Parks.

A first Parks drop goal was followed by a third Yachvili penalty to leave the hosts 10-9 ahead at half time but the second period well and truly belonged to Connacht.

Former Cardiff Blues and Scotland pivot Parks increased the lead on 46 and 51 minutes before pushing his side two scores clear with a second drop goal with eight minutes left to play.

A third successful penalty from Parks sealed a famous win five minutes later, with an injury-time try from replacement Imanol Harinordoquy when Tiernan O'Halloran was in the sin bin nothing more than mere consolation for the reigning Amlin Challenge Cup Champions.

Victory sees Connacht jump above Biarritz into second place in Pool 3, with English league leaders Harlequins now firm favourites to finish top of the group having beaten Connacht away and Biarritz at home.