AT the end, Connacht captain John Muldoon leapt five feet in the air and let out a triumphant roar.

It was entirely merited for, after last week's humiliating 0-58 capitulation in Cardiff, to beat the Magners League champions, having played for almost 40 minutes with 14 men was a remarkable achievement and keeps Connacht ahead of Ulster in the race for Heineken Cup qualification.

At the start of the season, Muldoon, from Portumna, spoke of his pride at being asked to lead his province and it oozed from his 6'3" frame last night, underpinning every tackle and charge.

"Coming off the defeat last week, there was a lot of soul-searching," said Muldoon. "Our defence was bloody awesome, we were down a forward but it didn't look like it. I'm so proud of the lads, they were brilliant."

Muldoon had plenty of willing comrades to follow his example. Johnny O'Connor reminded us of the feral openside who demanded international recognition several seasons ago, while Ian Keatley shone at out-half and won his duel with Leinster's Jonny Sexton as the race for the role of Ronan O'Gara's understudy hots up.

Keatley's fellow AIL wild geese, Fionn Carr and Sean Cronin, also stood out and emphasised the value of sending talented young players westward.

It was Keatley who got across to bring down Rocky Elsom by the ankles after 66 minutes when the Australian seemed destined for the line and tremendous credit must also go the front row, who won a turnover with a seven-man pack when Leinster forced a succession of scrums on the Connacht line.

As for Leinster, their management team declined to speak ,but one can guess their mood after a second consecutive defeat.

Watching Ireland coach Declan Kidney will have been pleased with the performance of Rob Kearney at full-back, and Luke Fitzgerald came into the game more in the centre.

Impressed

Elsom also impressed, as did Sean O'Brien, until he left the field with a lower-back strain, but you feel with Leinster it is a mental issue once again. They have a week to put things right and the smart money is on Edinburgh bearing the brunt of Leinster's frustration next weekend.

Hindsight is a marvellous thing, but there did seem to be something in the air as we entered the Sportsground.

Leinster should have had a try after four minutes but CJ van der Linde's would-be scoring pass to Fitzgerald was deemed forward. Connacht responded with a superb, weaving run by Mike Roberts but turned over for Leinster to clear.

Van der Linde was causing Connacht problems in the scrum and when the home side conceded their second penalty at the set-piece, Felipe Contepomi slotted over for a 3-0 lead after quarter of an hour.

Keatley's six-bounce, place-kicking ritual is somewhere between Jonny Wilkinson and Olga Korbut, but it works and his well-struck penalty tied the scores after 23 minutes.

That progress was undone when Clancy, who incensed the 2,820 crowd with some questionable decisions, penalised Connacht immediately on the resumption and Contepomi pushed the visitors ahead. Then came McCarthy's first yellow card, allegedly for line-out obstruction, and Contepomi made it 9-3.

Down a man, we waited for Connacht to crumble but spurred on by Muldoon and his back-row cohorts, the home side raised their game and two Keatley penalties sent the teams in 9-9 at half-time.

There was no let-up from Connacht and five minutes into the second half they struck. O'Connor began the move from deep in his own half with a powerful surge. Carr was soon haring into Leinster territory and when the ball came back, Keatley put Sean Cronin through and the hooker off-loaded brilliantly to McCarthy who dived over under the posts for a try of the season contender.

There followed a schmozzle under the posts, after a Leinster player allegedly used his elbow in a less than friendly manner. After a bout of handbags, Elsom was binned and McCarthy dismissed for a second yellow and we will wait and see if the matter is taken further.

When the furore died down, Keatley knocked over the simple convert to leave Connacht ahead 16-9.

When Leinster regained their man advantage they began to dominate possession and Contepomi brought it back to 16-12. Roberts made another superb run down the left which took right up to the line, but kicked ahead when he would have been better going to ground.

Try-saving

Keatley and Contepomi swapped penalties and the out-half pulled off his try-saving tackle before Contepomi made it 19-18 following a good surge from Stephen Keogh.

Keatley departed with suspected concussion (he is a doubt for next weekend's trip to Dax) and the tension ratcheted up a few notches. Leinster pushed hard with Fitzgerald coming close on a couple of occasions before Connacht produced an endgame that had echoes of Munster's Heineken Cup final close-out in May.

Five minutes of recycling was eventually ended by Clancy and then Muldoon could lead the riotous celebrations.

CONNACHT -- F Carr; L Bibo, G Duffy, M Deane, M Roberts (J Hearty 70); I Keatley (T Nathan 75), F Murphy; B Wilkinson, S Cronin (C Muldoon 68), R Loughery (R Morris 51) ; M McCarthy, A Farley; J Muldoon (capt), J O'Connor, C Rigney (M Swift 64). Yellow cards: McCarthy 29, 45 (dismissed).

LEINSTER -- R Kearney; S Horgan, L Fitzgerald, F Contepomi, S Keogh; J Sexton, C Keane; S Wright (C Healy 45), J Fogarty, CJ van der Linde; L Cullen (capt), D Toner (T Hogan 66); R Elsom, S O'Brien (C Jowitt 42), S Keogh. Yellow card: Elsom 45.

REF -- G Clancy (IRFU)