Connacht head coach Andy Friend displayed mixed emotions after his suffered a bonus-point loss at Leicester Tigers in the Heineken Champions Cup.
In the professional era, the province have now lost 25 of their 29 games in England, having not tasted success since a victory at Worcester in the 2009-10 season.
Connacht were - for large parts of the game - the better side and led 20-12 after 55 minutes before conceding two tries while reduced to 14 men after a yellow card for prop Finlay Bealham as they lost 29-23.
Connacht captain Jack Carty scored 18 of their points with a try, two penalties, two conversions and a late drop goal which secured the bonus point, while wing John Porch was also on the scoresheet with their first try.
"There's a lot of frustration in the dressing room as we came to win and not just get a bonus point," said Friend.
"Things could have been different if we had executed better to take our opportunities and you know the likely outcome if you can't get territory and concede yellow cards at Welford Road in the last 20 minutes.
"We showed we had a game plan to hurt teams and a lot of teams would be happy to come away from here with a bonus point.
"It was the biggest stage for some of the lads and there may have been a bit of nerves but we are OK with six points after our opening two games in Europe."
Heineken Champions Cup: Leicester Tigers 29-23 Connacht - recap
Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick admitted Connacht had troubled his side at times.
"They really challenged us today as they played a smart game in the first half," he said.
"At that stage we made too many errors and gave away too many penalties and they capitalised on those.
"What was really pleasing was that our team were able to grab hold of the game and change it in the second half as I thought the players managed the situation really well and the last 30 minutes were pretty good."
