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January 22, 2006

Glasgow Warriors 50 - 35 Bourgoin

Heineken Cup match played at Firhill on Sunday January 22nd 2006 | 14 comments

Dan Turner was one of Glasgow's try scorers
An impressive performance brought Glasgow's Heineken Cup campaign to a close, and also should have eased some of the pressure on the Warriors team.

Glasgow ran in seven tries to beat Bourgoin at Firhill and end a poor European campaign on a high note.

Winger Mike Roberts touched down twice and Andy Craig added another as the home side trailed 23-22 at the break.

With Andy Henderson yellow-carded, the visitors stretched their lead but Glasgow rallied strongly.

Dan Turner, Kevin Tkachuk, Rory Lamont and Graeme Morrison all breached the French side's defence, while Colin Gregor's kicking was accurate.

Glasgow end the Heineken Cup pool stage bottom of Group 5, with just one win and two bonus points.

But seven tries is a new club record in the competition.

Glasgow opened urgently, only to gift Anthony Forest a soft try, presenting Benjamin Boyet with a formality of a conversion.

The Warriors replied in stirring fashion to level, with Roberts using his power to reach the target - despite having three markers on his back.

Gregor's kick was from the widest possible angle, but he made it look simple.

The Frenchmen edged back in front almost instantly as Boyet banged over a 30-metre penalty for obstruction.

But Roberts raced down the flank and cut inside to complete his double and Gregor was again spot on.

Boyet slotted over another penalty after back line offside by Roberts as he tried to latch on to an interception.

Bourgoin pinned Glasgow back and the pressure paid off when lock Pascal Pape wheeled across the line at the end of a pick-and-drive move. Boyet added the extras.

Warriors reduced the leeway to just three when Gregor walloped over a penalty from 50 metres.

And there was a further boost on the stroke of the interval when centre Andy Craig marked his comeback from injury with a fine try set up by another surge from the impressive Roberts.

The celebrations were muted, however, as Andy Henderson was sin-binned for his part in a scuffle - Boyet slotting the kick to give Bourgoin a single point lead.

The visitors instantly made their numerical advantage count by claiming a try through Wessel Jooste in their opening attack of the second half.

The conversion was completed by substitute Alexandre Peclier.

They stretched their lead five minutes later when Forest was left with a cruise to the line at the end of a brutal three-quarter move.

Warriors refused to buckle and Turner kept them in the game with a bonus-point touchdown, goaled by Gregor.

And the contest was thrown wide open midway through the half when Tkachuk ploughed over, with Gregor keeping up his sequence with the boot.

Lamont finished off a sizzling handling sequence - Gregor again making it a seven-pointer from wide on the right.

Morrison then outpaced the Bourgoin defence, giving Gregor the easy task of bringing up the half-century.

Referee Tim Hayes (Wales)
Attendance 1,038
Man of the Match Official Man of the Match was Colin Gregor, who had a very strong performance. However special mention should also go to Mike Roberts, Rory Lamont, Steve Swindall and G-Dog when he came on. Also JP captained the side well, keeping them under control to come back from being two treis down.
Team
1
Kevin Tkachuk
2
Fergus Thomson
3
Euan Murray
4
Dan Turner
5
Gregor Hayter
6
Steve Swindall
7
John Barclay
8
Jon Petrie
9
Graeme Beveridge
10
Colin Gregor
11
Mike Roberts
12
Andrew Henderson
13
Andy Craig
14
Hefin O'Hare
15
Rory Lamont
Sub
Scott Lawson
Sub
Lee Harrison
Sub
Craig Hamilton
Sub
Graeme Morrison
Sub
Sam Pinder
Sub
Dan Parks
Sub
Scott Barrow
Match Substitutions
Off On
Andrew Henderson Scott Barrow
Off On
Kevin Tkachuk Lee Harrison
Off On
Andy Craig Graeme Morrison
Off On
Graeme Beveridge Sam Pinder
Off On
Fergus Thomson Scott Lawson
Off On
Euan Murray Kevin Tkachuk
Off On
Mike Roberts Dan Parks
Off On
Scott Barrow Craig Hamilton
Scorers
Mike Roberts Try 
Colin Gregor Conversion
Mike Roberts Try 
Colin Gregor Conversion
Colin Gregor Penalty
Andy Craig Try 
Colin Gregor Conversion
Dan Turner Try 
Colin Gregor Conversion
Kevin Tkachuk Try 
Colin Gregor Conversion
Rory Lamont Try 
Colin Gregor Conversion
Graeme Morrison Try 
Colin Gregor Conversion
Comments
Posted by hugh on January 22, 2006 07:48 PM | Reply to this comment

Glasgow's win over Bourgoin today at Firhill reminded of a time when the Herald employed journalists like Ian Archer
Following a Rangers 6-1 win over Partick Thistle the headline in the Herald on Monday was "Thistle in seven goal thriller at Firhill"
The SRU spin machine is not at the races
--

Posted by vicki on January 22, 2006 08:02 PM | Reply to this comment

A great performance, and a much-needed win! Well done Warriors!

Mike Roberts played well, but what did the butterfly wings try celebration signify?!?

Posted by don on January 23, 2006 09:36 AM | Reply to this comment

hi vicki, i'm mike's mate from back home and i asked him to do that celebration, its something we call double reverse mockage.its a private joke but now everyone knows and i hope he gets to do it every week!! think i picked the right week to travel up to watch, great perfomance Glasgow.

Posted by jenni b on January 23, 2006 12:49 PM | Reply to this comment

Typical - the first home game I've missed this season and it's a stunner - gutted! Never mind, well done to all the guys and hope this Friday against the Ospreys is just as good. Won't actually be there for that one either as we're off to Murrayfield for the Bell Lawrie White finals night so maybe I'll get to see the much-debated celebration some other time!

Posted by McDruid on January 22, 2006 10:44 PM | Reply to this comment

The Ws can only play (and beat) the opposition that takes the field, but I don't believe we should get carried away with a win over Bourgoin, who have a shocking record on the road. This was a meaningless fixture, acknowledged by Hugh Campbell's selection of players "to give them game time".

That is not to fail to recognise the players' efforts, but simply to point out that they need to win games that matter and that plenty of opportunities to do so will arise in the rest of the Celtic league.

Posted by vicki on January 22, 2006 10:49 PM | Reply to this comment

On the one hand, I agree, however, although it was a meaningless fixture in the sense we had nothing to play for, would you not agree that it must be a much needed confidence booster before these all important remaining CL fixtures? In the same way, Campbell's choice of giving different players game-time was to enable them to play confidently on Friday against Ospreys, when the internationalists will be on training duty. That's where I see there being importance in winning this game.

Posted by pink*panther on January 23, 2006 09:32 AM | Reply to this comment

I have to say i dont think this was a meaninless fixture at all! We had pride to play for and a win was needed. Allbeit it wasnt going to get us any further in the competition. I think the team had a great performance and it would be good if they could have more like that, escpecially on Friday when it will mean more that boosting everyones confidence. It doesnt matter who we beat, the improtant thing was we won.
Well done guys!!!

Posted by Donald on January 23, 2006 12:00 AM | Reply to this comment

After last weekend it was very pleasing to see the team bounce back today even though the performance at times was not good. Hopefully this win will pick everyone up for Friday's game against the Ospreys which is a must win with the CL effectively going into cold storage during the 6 Nations. More of the same on Friday please!

Posted by Green on January 23, 2006 12:37 PM | Reply to this comment

A great finish and the margin might have been wider but for a fussy referee. Was it my imagination or did the pace pick up with
a) the yellow card to Andy Henderson and b) the arrival of Sam at scrum-half?

Posted by J.L on January 24, 2006 10:08 AM | Reply to this comment

We went from being ahead when Henderson was on the field to being heavily down while he was sin binned. I thought we were always in control of the match otherwise and with plenty of ball did some damage.

Posted by Big col on January 23, 2006 08:32 PM | Reply to this comment

Great game,shame about the dreadful attendance. 1038 when we regularly had crowds of over 2000 & sometimes 3000.The switch to firhill has not been a great success as claimed it would be. Time to review the situation for next season. Hopefully broken promises will not be advertised or on sale next year

Posted by stones on January 24, 2006 01:35 PM | Reply to this comment

True - attendance was very poor, although pretty much what was expected. Please remember that the switch to Firrhill was a necessity and not a choice (and I can't ever remember anyone promising it would increase crowd size overnight).

Firstly, If the team achieve success then the crowds will increase. If we fail to qualify for next years HC and do poorly in the CL then they won't. I can't see how moving grounds would affect this.

Secondly, how can new support be attracted to Firrhill (or anywhere) to watch Warriors when press coverage is sparse and games are poorly promoted (if at all)?

Posted by hugues on January 24, 2006 11:11 AM | Reply to this comment

Very happy for the warriors!
Attendance is so bad for a European Game.
Even with 2000 or 3000 people, it is so poor, that it is a nightmare for Scottish Rugby about the money.
All the European games in other countries except Italy attract crowds over 10000 people.

Posted by McDruid on January 26, 2006 01:51 PM | Reply to this comment

If the Glasgow team starts winning meaningful fixtures and strings some wins together it will attract support. If not, it won't.

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