Connacht deserved to take something from this game but ended up with nothing to show for an energetic 80-minute performance at Scotstoun Stadium.
Eric Elwood’s men were left to rue the concession of couple of soft tries, including one from man-of-the-match DTH van der Merwe, as they emerged pointless from this round 4 tie.
Scott Wight, a late replacement for Duncan Weir, booted the Warriors ahead in the second minute after a ruck infringement.
Kieran Marmion was blocked down and Robbie Henshaw, making his full debut for Connacht, kicked out on the full as the westerners struggled for territory early on.
Wight missed his second shot at the posts and over the next 10 minutes, the visitors started to make in-roads – aided by astute kicking from Matthew Jarvis and a Johnny O’Connor-inspired pack.
But Glasgow were able to extend their lead in the 18th minute, another block down allowing them to spread the ball wide for Sean Lamont to go over in the right corner.
It was an error-strewn opening quarter and Glasgow’s ability to take their chances was shown again when Peter Murchie waltzed through on a solo run for try number two.
With 25 minutes on the clock, Connacht captain Gavin Duffy injured his hamstring as he chased his own kick. Glasgow retrieved possession and launched a threatening counter down the right, putting full-back Murchie into space and he exposed some lacklustre defending by going over unopposed.
Wight’s missed conversion left it 15-0 to the Scots and the withdrawal of Duffy brought Jack Carty on for an earlier than expected debut in Connacht colours.
The 20-year-old Carty was quick to settle into his role, with Jarvis also having more of an influence. Carty prodded a well-weighted kick in under the posts for the advancing Mark McCrea to dot down and get Connacht off the mark.
The extras were added by Jarvis, giving Elwood’s youthful side a real fillip in sight of the half-time.
Their improvements were visible when Marmion and Carty combined to put a bandaged David McSharry darting through the middle and James Loxton was unfortunate to run out of space on the right.
Then the powerful right boot of Jarvis had the final say of the first half, landing a long range penalty to close the gap to 15-10.
Glasgow had to run the ball into touch near their own try-line after a neat chip and chase from George Naoupu, as Connacht pressed early in the second half.
They were rocked by the concession of a third try though, with Carty unable to gather a high ball and van der Merwe breaking through past two final defenders.
Wight converted for a 22-10 advantage, but straight from the restart Glasgow fumbled twice and the onrushing Nathan White swept onto the loose ball to score his first try for the province.
Jarvis tapped over the simple conversion to make it a five-point game once more, and a trademark pilfer by O’Connor also boosted the visitors’ hopes.
Into the final quarter, strong carries from Naoupu and replacements Denis Buckley, Mata Fifita and Michael Swift ignited a promising spell for Elwood’s charges.
Connacht had plenty of ball at this stage but lacked penetration and they were made to pay in the 69th minute when Murchie’s left wing surge set up van der Merwe for a well-taken try by the corner flag.
The unconverted score put the result beyond doubt and although Connacht hammered away at the Scots’ defensive line, they were unable to make a late breakthrough.
The final scoring opportunity saw Jarvis try his luck from a penalty inside the Connacht half. It was a firmly-struck kick but fell just short of the posts.
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