Cardiff kept alive their Celtic League title hopes thanks to a second-half revival which brought three tries and, in the end, a comfortable victory.

Even without a bonus point, they clinched their place in next season's Heineken Cup without having to slip in via a play-off with an Italian club, an embarrassment they had to negotiate last summer.

Despite perfect conditions, the first half stuttered from error to infringement and back again.

The Blues enjoyed most of the possession and scrum-half Mike Phillips and number eight Xavier Rush made forceful runs, but their colleagues were unable to finish the moves off in the face of some stubborn Connacht battling.

The visitors had little to offer in attack apart from the boot, but it gained them occasional footholds in Blues territory and that allowed the prodigious kicking of fly-half Mark McHugh to land four penalties.

Opposite number Nick Macleod slotted over three in reply, but it was disappointing fare for the 6,423 tempted out on a sunlit spring evening.

But the Blues emerged after the break with a greater urgency and it soon bore fruit. Macleod side-stepped his way through the previously impregnable Connacht defence and fed Australian centre Marc Stcherbina, who turned inside the cover tacklers to score. Macleod adding the extras to his own creation.

With replacement scrum-half Tom Tierney inspiring Connacht, the rugby was still competitive and Blues coach Dai Young acknowledged it by bringing on star substitute Nicky Robinson and Martyn Williams.

Within minutes a fine handling move ended with prop Gethin Jenkins strolling over wide out, Macleod's brilliant conversion extending the Blues' lead.

Connacht's repeated attempts to slow down Blues' ball brought a yellow card for Tierney and the home side took advantage when Stcherbina rounded off a scintillating move involving Rhys Williams, Macleod and wing Chris Czekaj.