Dan came on to steady Glasgow's ship against Cardiff

Much-maligned Scotland stand-off Dan Parks came off the bench to wavering Glasgow’s rescue in the final minutes of their Celtic League clash against Cardiff to kick two late penalties and seal a vital victory.

Parks’ two late strikes in his first appearance since being substituted at half-time against Wales in the Six Nations at the start of the month brought Glasgow’s run of seven games without a win to a halt and puts them in position to win a place in the end-of-season Celtic Cup competition.

Glasgow had a superb first half but had to ride their luck in the second spell as Cardiff dominated, and the visitors would probably have won had stand-off Nick Robinson not lost his kicking touch completely.

The Warriors were hanging on at two points ahead when Parks came on for Calvin Howarth, but he steadied the ship with some strong kicks and a couple of sniping runs.

Also showing strongly for the home side were hooker Scott Lawson and young flanker Steve Swindall, who was the best player afield, although Scotland wing Sean Lamont got the official man of the match award for his first-half try.

The recent pessimism about the state of Scottish rugby was put into perspective by the size of the crowd— one of Hughenden’s best of the season—and the home side’s dynamic first-half performance.

A big early push with one storming run from Paul Dearlove, a late replacement for the injured Andrew Wilson, brought an early penalty chance which Howarth slotted for the lead.

Cardiff responded with a neat drop goal from Robinson, but Howarth restored Glasgow’s lead with a 40-metre penalty after the Warriors had broken out from a long spell defending in their own 22.

Cardiff looked threatening with the ball in hand but were committing too many errors, and from one Glasgow scored the opening try.

The Blues pack spilled the ball on halfway and Sam Pinder moved the ball quickly out to Sean Lamont, who raced away through tackles into the Cardiff 22. The Scotland wing was eventually snared by Nick MacLeod but got support from his younger brother Rory, taking the return pass to get the try, Howarth converting.

However the Blues got back into the match in the second half with an early Robinson penalty and then a MacLeod tackle saved them after Graeme Morrison had broken clear towards their line.

Cardiff got a big lift from that and began to dominate, but Robinson badly hooked two simple penalties and then a conversion when lock Craig Quinnell was driven over for a try from a five-metre lineout.

MacLeod fared no better with a penalty attempt when he took over kicking duties for the Blues as the visitors continued to dominate, and with the Warriors barely hanging on to a two-point lead Parks entered the fray.

After a couple of good touches the Scotland stand-off made a strong midfield run, supported by his forwards, and won a penalty which he kicked with less than a metre to spare as Welsh internationalist lock Robert Sidoli was sin-binned for the offence.

As Cardiff tried to keep the ball alive to get back into the game, they were caught offside at a ruck on their 22 and Parks stepped forward to kick the penalty and clinch the win although a late MacLeod penalty gave Cardiff a bonus point they deserved.

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