Connacht had to survive a nervy finale, but made it two wins from two in the Challenge Cup with a bonus-point 31-24 victory against Brive in France.
Andy Friend's side had looked to be in complete control when leading 28-3 early in the second half, while they also played three quarters of the game with a man advantage after Abraham Papali'i - formerly of Connacht - picked up a red card on 23 minutes for a dangerous tackle on Shamus Hurley-Langton.
Ill-discipline was a theme of Papali'is two seasons at Connacht, with the New Zealander red-carded three times in 26 games for the province.
Connacht hit the front on 11 minutes when David Hawkshaw burrowed over for a try, and they took control of the tie shortly after Papali'i's sending off when Tom Daly eventually finished off a multi-phase attack, Conor Fitzgerald converting both to make it 14-3.
With Brive temporarily down to 13 men due to a yellow card, Connacht scored their third try through Diarmuid Kilgallen (below), the Kildare wing with a spectacular diving finish in the corner as they moved into a 21-3 half time lead.
Shane Delahunt's try just after the break secured the bonus point, and while Fitzgerald added one more penalty they had to hold off a spirited comeback from the hosts, who scored three tries in the final quarter to secure a losing bonus-point.
Connacht sit top of Pool A alongside Glasgow, who made it two victories from two as they saw off a second-half comeback from Perpignan to claim a 26-18 win at Murrayfield.
Elsewhere in Pool B, flanker Francke Horn scored a pair of tries in Emirates Lions’ first victory – a 30-12 win over Stade Francais.
Horn dived over in the corner for his first try before breaking clear to crash over for a second and with Jordan Hendrikse converting both.
Scrum-half James Hall got the visitors on the scoreboard on the stroke of half-time to make it 20-5 at the break.
But Lions full-back Andries Coetzee crossed with 15 minutes remaining after latching onto a superb long pass to restore the 20-point advantage and Ruan Smith’s try made sure of the bonus point.
Additional reporting: PA
Brive: Seta Tuicuvu; Kevin Fabien, Nico Lee, Sam Arnold, Wesley Douglas; Nicolas Sanchez, Paul Abadie; Daniel Brennan, Florian Dufour, Tietie Tuimauga; Renger van Eerten, Tevita Ratuva; Retief Marais, Said Hireche (capt), Abraham Papali'i.
Replacements: Vano Karkadze, Nathan Fraissenon, Pietro Ceccarelli, Julien Delannoy, Matthieu Voisin, Enzo Sanga, Tom Raffy, Thomas Laranjeira,
Connacht: Conor Fitzgerald; Adam Byrne, Tom Daly, Bundee Aki, Diarmuid Kilgallen; David Hawkshaw, Kieran Marmion; Peter Dooley, Shane Delahunt, Sam Illo; Darragh Murray, Gavin Thornbury; Oisin Dowling, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle (capt)
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Jordan Duggan, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Niall Murray, Ciaran Booth, Colm Reilly, Byron Ralston, Oran McNulty
Referee: Adam Leal (RFU)
