| With victory the home side ended a run of four successive defeats in all competitions, and reinforced their strong home form in the Celtic League, where they have strung together a sequence of seven successive wins since this evening's opponents Connacht beat them 9-10 at the Gnoll on 21 November 2004.
Despite coming so close to winning, Connacht's only victory in their last eleven matches in all competitions stretching back to March remains the narrow triumph over Cardiff Blues last month.
In the end the Ospreys had to rely on replacement flyhalf Shaun Connor to seal the win with a last gasp penalty and end the Irish hopes.
The visitors appeared to be on the verge of victory when centre Keith Matthews got on the end of some good work inspired by wing Conor Phillips to grab a try and give his side a 17-15 lead.
Connacht had taken a 17-15 lead when centre Keith Matthews sped over for a try following a fine break from wing Conor McPhillips.
But their joy was short-lived as they were penalised for what appeared to be time wasting, and Connor slotted his fifth penalty of the game to steal the win.
The below-par Ospreys were down 9-3 at the break as they were made to pay for some sloppy mistakes.
Matthew Jones had put them into an early lead but Paul Warwick levelled the scores soon after before going on to claim a first-half hat-trick of penalties.
The Ospreys clawed their way back into the game in the second half but the try from Matthews late on put Connacht on course for a memorable victory.
However, Connor would have the last say for the reigning Celtic League champions.
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