But Townsend conceded his side didn't have it all their own way after going behind early on and needing to show resilience to pick up maximum points.
"We were very pleased with the win and we had worked very hard pre-match on Connacht as we knew they would pose us a strong challenge," he told the club's official website.
"We made things difficult for ourselves at times, especially in terms of discipline as at one stage it was 9-1 in the penalty count and that's nowhere near good enough at this level.
"As result we had to defend in our half for a lot of the game and with 14 men on two occasions, but credit must go to the players for getting us through those periods of adversity.
"We probably led against the run of play in the first half as Connacht had controlled most of it.
"The last 20 minutes we worked really hard though and I believe we deserved the win. We are delighted that it became a bonus point win."
While a place in the play-offs has been confirmed, Townsend is determined to secure home advantage for his side's semi-final with tough games against Ospreys and Ulster still to come.
"I'd like to congratulate the players on the fantastic effort to reach their fourth semi-final in a row," he added.
"To show consistency of being at the top four is difficult and the work the players have put in throughout the season is superb.
"It's a real squad effort and the next priority is to finish as high up the table as possible.
"A home semi-final would be amazing as it was a great event when we reached that stage last year and played Munster.
"I believe we have to win one more game, possibly two, depending on how other results go. We now have two weeks to prepare for the next challenge, which will be against the Ospreys."
Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12
63x46.png){kind=logo}