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April 17, 2009

Glasgow Warriors 19 - 20 Ulster

GUINNESS PRO12 match played at Firhill on Friday April 17th 2009 | 40 comments

Thom scored Glasgow's only try
A missed penalty with the last kick of the game allowed Ulster to record only their second away win of the Magners League campaign.

Glasgow crashed to earth with a thump as they suffered another frustrating home defeat in the Magners League.

In the wake of their stunning triumph over the Scarlets, Sean Lineen's troops had been confident of snuffing out the challenge of Ulster at Firhill.

But they were unable to recover fully from a disastrous spell at the end of the first half when they gave away two quickfire tries while down to 14 men.

The opening exchanges were jittery with both sides making a spate of basic mistakes as they tried to settle.

Niall O'Connor squandered an early penalty opportunity for the visitors - with Colin Gregor doing likewise at the other end.

Gregor made quick amends, however, by slotting an angled effort to put the Warriors in front.

Full-back Clint Schifcofske took over the boot duties for Ulster and was immediately on target to level the contest with plenty of mistakes still being committed.

The penalty ping-pong continued as Ulster's Ryan Caldwell was warned for killing the ball.

And Gregor confidently banged over the kick to restore the home advantage.

Schifcofske again levelled the issue - but in controversial circumstances.

The offence took place inside the Ulster half, however scrum-half Paul Marshall 'stole' 10 metres behind the referee's back to make sure it was within range of his marksman.

There was a further setback for Glasgow when prop Moray Low was yellow-carded for a professional foul.

And the Belfast brigade made the most of their extra man by creating a try on the stroke of the interval.

Their gamble in spurning a kick at the posts paid handsome dividends as flanker David Pollock plunged over in the wake of fine link-work by Marshall and Robbie Diack.

Schifcofske added the extras - before the Warriors were floored by two more blows in stoppage time.

First, skipper Ally Kellock hobbled off injured, then Scotland winger Simon Danielli scorched in for a second Ulster touchdown in as many minutes.

Schifcofske gleefully thumped over the conversion to open up a 14-point gap.

Glasgow needed to do something quickly after the restart to revive their prospects and Thom Evans obliged by shrugging off four challenges to streak over in the corner.

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

And when substitute Dan Parks clipped over another three points the tussle was well and truly back in the melting pot.

Glasgow piled on the pressure going into the crucial final stages and Parksy narrowed the gap to a single point.

But he narrowly missed that last-gasp effort to complete a night of Warriors misery.

Late miss robs Warriors of dramatic victory - The Herald

Referee Gwyn Morris (WRU)
Attendance TBC
Man of the Match Max Evans received the official MOTM award
Team
1
Kevin Tkachuk
2
Dougie Hall
3
Moray Low
4
Tim Barker
5
Alastair Kellock
6
James Eddie
7
John Barclay
8
Kelly Brown
9
Mark McMillan
10
Ruaridh Jackson
11
Thom Evans
12
Graeme Morrison
13
Max Evans
14
Lome Fa'atau
15
Colin Gregor
Sub
Fergus Thomson
Sub
Justin Va'a
Sub
Dan Turner
Sub
Calum Forrester
Sub
Dan Parks
Sub
Andrew Henderson
Sub
Bernardo Stortoni
Match Substitutions
Off On
Tim Barker Dan Turner
Off On
Mark McMillan Bernardo Stortoni
Off On
Ruaridh Jackson Dan Parks
Off On
James Eddie Calum Forrester
Scorers
Colin Gregor Penalty
Colin Gregor Penalty
Thom Evans Try 
Colin Gregor Conversion
Dan Parks Penalty
Dan Parks Penalty
Posted by Mike13 on April 17, 2009 10:38 PM

Really dissapointing tonight. Obviously gutted to see Dans kick glide in front of the posts, but the worst of it was us not looking like we were interested for a good chunk of the first half and losing two easy scores. Cant understand why Jackson went for that drop goal attempt (unless we'd been given a penalty already) when we should have had more confidence to go through the phases and keep the ball in hand.
They cant have shifted that many new season tickets tonight!

Posted by Alan on April 18, 2009 12:19 AM

Only one obvious MOTM tonight .. the ref!

Posted by Moody Blue on April 18, 2009 08:10 AM

Stand up for the Referee!
Stand up for the Referee!
Stand up for the Referee!
Stand up for the Referee!

If I could I would take my ticket and ask Mr Morris to pay me my money back. His performance was a shocker. The first half was like a non contact game - he blew up within 1 second of every ruck being formed; he warned Ulster 3 times about killing the ball then yellow carded Moray Low!; penalised Kelly Brown for holding the ball at his feet when the scrum was still in place; failed to recognise the scrum going through 90 on at least 2 occasions; gave knock on's twice against Glasgow when the ball went back; and changed line out throws twice for hookers delaying the put in for 3 seconds. He's the fastest Morris I've ever seen. Didn't just rob the game of any momentum but robbed the spectators of any spectacle in the first half.

Posted by Phall on April 18, 2009 09:50 AM

MB, if all this is apparent to you and many supporters then it should have been apparent to pro-rugby players. In situations like this you play the ref and adapt. We didn't, another number in the loss column.

Posted by Objective Fan on April 18, 2009 10:11 AM

Phall: Were you at the game? I agree wholeheartedly with Moody Blue's observations - he is correct in every detail. Under the circumstances I thought that the Glasgow players controlled themselves remarkably well. Whilst you are right in principal Phall, last night's referreeing performance was an absolute shocker.

Another point: Should Jackson perhaps have been pulled off earlier? Parks made a difference when he came on and surely even his many detractors would surely admit that he got more from his outside backs in the last quarter than Jackson had done.

Posted by Alistair Hutton on April 18, 2009 10:25 AM

Jackson made a series of poor decisions ball in hand but I don't know if he could have been pulled off earlier purely from a confidence issue.

We were on top in the second half even with Jackson making the shonkey decisions in the danger zone. It would have been a real ball kicker for the lad to be taken off earlier when Glasgow were on top.

With hindsight, given how fantastically Dan played and energised the team Jackson probably shouldn't have started with Jackson on the bench to change things up.

Posted by Phall on April 18, 2009 11:37 AM

I am agreeing with him, but at any level you play the ref. We did not play smart rugby. It was obvious that he was going to be picky from the start. A pro-player should be able to adapt to the ref.
Watch the Super 14 and you'll see that the sides know the refs inside out and play matches appropriately.

Posted by manattheback on April 18, 2009 11:49 AM

No point complaining about the ref - he'd issued a warning to both teams and even if Ulster had committed more penalty offences, it was going to be next man to the bin and you just knew it was going to be a Glasgow player who would be stupid enough. To be fair the next time an Ulsterman infringed, he went.
How else is Ruaraidh Jackson going to learn - he HAS to have game time and personally I think he did OK. A few mistakes, a couple of bad decisions but what about the offload for Evans try - sublime! And a couple of good tackles in positions you just wouldn't have seen DP. Give the lad a break.
I wouldn't criticise Parks for missing the last shot but why was he taking the kicks as soon as he came on when Gregor was obviously in the groove. The bench even thought it would be Gregor and that's why the wrong tee came out first time!
Fa'Atau is a waste of space - he didn't want to know at Danielli's try, just jogged across.
And Firhill is never a rugby pitch, it's too narrow and forces fast players back inside - move to a proper rugby ground!

Posted by Alistair Hutton on April 19, 2009 10:37 AM

Dan was handed the ball, he nodded his head at Colin and tossed him the ball, Colin immediately gave the ball back to Dan to take the kick.

Posted by AJPatterson on April 18, 2009 12:30 PM

The referee also ruined the match as a spectacle. This is what frustrates me most about the refereeing we see - OK, the players should adapt but if the fans can't understand what's going on, and the players can't put a game together because they don't know what they're allowed to do, what's the point in that?

In particular, what on earth was going on when Moray got carded? It looked like the Ulster players were getting warned and then he gets a card? The most plausible reason would be backchat, which would make sense given the nonsense being dished out by the referee generally, but press reports say it was for a professional foul (when he was nowhere near the ball).

I spoke to some guys who had come over on the boat and they thought the ref ruined it as well. This could have been a genuine hard fought war and instead it was a "guess what's allowed" contest with predictably a lot of errors.

Get some predictability into refereeing, please, IRB.

Posted by Derek on April 18, 2009 01:26 PM

Sean said on the radio after the game it was for mouthing to the Ref that Moray got the card!

Posted by neilma cd74 on April 18, 2009 03:02 PM

The ref was truly appalling but despite that he didn't cost us the game.
We went to sleep when Al Kellock was of and we were down to 14 and after the first try the heads went down which lead to the second.
First half performance was average to begin with and the 2nd 20 minutes of the 1st half were as bad as the Munster game a few weeks back.
Good fight back in the 2nd half but some of the decision making was poor i.e. Jackson's decision to take a pop from 3 or 4 meters inside his own half instead of going for the corner.
Thought Dan played well when he came on.
Interesting to hear Sean Lineen comment on the radio that they might look to start building for the future in the remaining 3 games.
If he does that I guess it will give an indication of who's leaving in the summer.

Posted by billyidol on April 18, 2009 03:16 PM

Calum, I have been guilty of calling Colin G a 'crap boot' in the past but he has improved considerably. And at 7's he is a solid, speedy little nipper.

And, from above - "Gregor's conversion was from the widest possible angle, but he made it look easy."

Posted by Moody Blue on April 18, 2009 06:51 PM

I wasn't suggesting for a moment that the ref cost Glasgow the game. The players didn't perform sufficienctly well to win the game. What the ref did was to deny the spectators a spectacle. I don't want to pay £15 to watch periods of play that last 10-15 seconds. We go to be entertained. The referee stopped any possibility of that last night.

Posted by alsfan on April 19, 2009 12:41 AM

What combination of 9 10 and 15 defeated Toulouse? Budgie isn't just our best utility back, he is also our best scrum half this season, Dan is our best 10 and Bernie is our best 15. If they had played from the start, we would have beaten Ulster .. you could see that from the difference it made when Sean made the changes.

Posted by S153 on April 19, 2009 01:10 PM

And some people still consider Sean Lineen to be a good coach? some of his team selections are just plain daft. He is being found out. The players are no better, where's the motivation and where's the nouse to play the referee. Another mediocre performance from a mediocre team in a mediocre season.
Played 15 and won 6 is p*ss poor by any accounts, add to that we have conceded more points than we have scoreD and we are 8 points behind that lot from the east, not good enough

Posted by calum on April 19, 2009 11:56 AM

billyidol thats fantastic gregor is good at sevens shame hes incompetent at the 15 game and no use to glasgow all he does is block the path for younger boys and with cusiter and macmillan at scrum halfs and parks and jackson stand off i think its time him and pinder considered their futures at glasgow. and fridays performance was terrible and we as fans shouldnt accept it and should make unhappyness known

Posted by larry on April 19, 2009 07:57 PM

Calum, I don't really think you know what you're talking about. Gregor has been one of the better, more consistent performers for Glasgow this season and the past few seasons for that matter. He has suffered from lack of game time where Lineen appears to play players on reputation rather than on performances. I think he has played maybe 3 different positions this season and has played well at all 3 when given the opportunity. And to say he is "incompetent at the 15 game" clearly shows your lack of knowledge of the game. Gregor is one of the few players in the Glasgow team that has great vision, a great rugby brain, has the ability to bring other players into the game, and gives the crowd genuine excitement when he has the ball in a bit of space.

Posted by madness on April 19, 2009 04:31 PM

Lineens team selection has been a disgrace for a good while. Why play gregor at full back when bernie is fit?? Meanwhile someone like andy henderson is sitting completely unused every week while guys like faatau play when fit despite indifferent performances? People who should be dropped are retained and people who play well are dropped etc etc. Very unimpressed. Inconsistent selections = inconsistent displays.

Posted by garyswan on April 19, 2009 07:17 PM

interesting to note jackson was playing 7s in a st andrews university competition on the saturday...good post match rehab and contract control by glasgow. himself and a number of players were in the area and were far from sober that evening despite a very disappointing loss. the wonderful thom evans was also noted to be strutting around and barging his way to the front of the bar with a real self importance and arrogance. surely this is not how we want to have our boys portrayed? if they were 6 nations and magners league winners, or even competing at the top in all competitions then yes ok, have a laugh and let your hair down. but after a mediocre season its not suitable in the modern professional era...enough said i think

Posted by G-Rock on April 19, 2009 11:36 PM

Gary, your description of Thom Evans goes against anything I, and I'm pretty sure plenty others, have experienced.

If you're that bothered about the behaviour of players, and you haven't done so already, maybe you should fire off an e-mail to Sean Lineen? Otherwise you just come across as someone chucking mud around on a supporters' website.

Posted by Brian Flanagan on April 19, 2009 08:08 PM

Garyswan you're a twat. The best way to deal with a disappointment is to do something which will take you're mind off it. How do you know what its like mentally for these guys to deal with letting all their supporters down? Get off your high horse and get off this website as this is a fansite and you're obviously not a fan!

Posted by manattheback on April 19, 2009 09:29 PM

Sorry but I have to agree that this is not how our so called professional players should be behaving - anyone with any sports science knowledge understands that drinking within 48 hours of a bruising physical match is not conducive to good recovery so they shouldn't be out on the piss!

Posted by weebaw on April 19, 2009 08:23 PM

Jackson made the try.
We would have won if he had stayed on. Gregor would have kicked the goals. If Parks had been on earlier we wouldnt even have scored a try.
I actually thought the ref was totally incompetent but favoured us in the 2nd half.
Henderson should not have been allowed to drift away and should have started.
No more imports as many of these games are won by the team who wants it more. Stortoni is an exception.

Posted by rossco on April 19, 2009 09:38 PM

Inconsistent selections = inconsistent displays.

How exactly is sticking with the side that thrashed Llanelli an inconsistent selection?

Posted by madness on April 19, 2009 09:47 PM

I am speaking in general terms, I agree that several of our players seem to play well one week and poor the next - but there has been a general inconsistency in selection this year.

Posted by calum on April 19, 2009 09:44 PM

hav u bn at the same games as me this season gregor is useless and i actually know quite a gd deal abt rugby more than u if u rate gregor

Posted by lineens weegie army on April 19, 2009 10:53 PM

more than you know about spelling I hope!

Gregor has had some fantastic games this season (particularly at scrum half) even if he is a little inconsistent. But then, other than the Evans's, name a player that hasn't been?

Gregor is a fantastic player to have, and I think would be really missed if he were to leave. (incidentally I think the same could apply to Lome - He gets a lot of stick on here, and a lot of it was deserved, but I think this season he has put in a lot of work thats gone unnoticed. Still think there are better options though)

Posted by garyswan on April 20, 2009 09:39 AM

as a phd student in sports injury science i know that drinking, and drinking to the excesses these guys are KNOWN AND SEEN to drink will do them no good during the week at training and then the following week when they play. its is scientific FACT. the behaviour of thom evans is by the by, he lives in a high pressure environment where it can be hard to escape being known and recognised as one of scotlands future talents. he can win matches for a nation and that can he hard stay grounded with. it is merely the players behaviour in nightclubs i am questioning. one need look no further than the NRL in oz to see the problems that can arise. these guys are professional players who are paid a hell of a lot of money to play and we pay a hell of a lot of money to travel and to watch them. furthermore, playing 7s the next day in a meaningless tournament is too big a risk for pro's to be taking!!! one bad tackle and that could be their season or even career shortened/ended. fan or no fan twat or no twat you cannot escape the fact our players are living an amateur lifestyle in a professional era

Posted by G-Rock on April 20, 2009 09:47 AM

Ah, right - the Thom Evans thing is now "by the by". Why take the trouble to mention it then?

Posted by garyswan on April 20, 2009 09:58 AM

because i, like many other people present in st andrews found he was acting like a p****!! jealousy you cry! probably, but it is an issue that plagues the junior ranks of our professional players and i was using it to illustrate the issue of drink and the feelings it creates towards our players. you say he is a great guy, i say iv seen him inebriated acting like a fool. we shall agree to disagree that maybe it was an off night for the chap. it still doesnt take away the fact PROFESSIONAL players were hammered after a poor loss and playing 7s the next day. it is entirely unprofessional and no matter what you say you cant defend the fact that our players, ambassadors and stalwarts of the Shed nightclub in the southside,spend too much time on their extra curricular activities. a winning side has the right to celebrate. im not suggesting our players dont drink and have a laugh, but never after a loss or a poor season. iv played some high end rugby, albeit not professionally, and after a loss the last thing i ever wanted to do was get on the razz...

Posted by G-Rock on April 20, 2009 11:12 AM

Why don't you drop an email to Sean Lineen instead of being an old sweetie wife on a supporters' website?

Posted by RJG on April 20, 2009 10:02 AM

Its a real shame that the web comments on this game have deteriorated into picking on specific players and comparing their relative strengths with guys who wern't picked or didn't start, or comments on the lifestyles of some of our players. For what its worth, I was gutted on Friday night, but I never got the impression that anyone, even the imports, wern't trying.

I believe that Sean deserves a break. He has discovered/developed some really good players for Glasgow and Scotland since he started (Evans x 2, G Dog, Barclay for example), and done so on the worst resources of any side in the Magners League, both in terms of salary and facilities. You just need to look at the training set up to know why some of the romoured big names mentioned in the last couple of months didn't materialise.

I also think I have seen a big increase in the interest in and visibility of the team this season, so there is lots to be positive about.

We all know the big problem for the team is up front, and I am sure
the coaches are trying to address that, but I dont think they will be Scots that come in, as the quality we would like to see in those positions will cost to much.

One final thought. Dan Parks looks to me like a guy who might on his way out, and I would hate to see him leave thinking the Glasgow fans have forgotten what a great servant he has been. Only last season he won 6 or 7 MOTM awards.

Posted by garyswan on April 20, 2009 10:09 AM

RJG that is all very well but at the root of a performance, "trying" will only take you so far and if we arent putting the best or most committed professionals on the pitch it will always be an uphill battle, hence why we sit and compare players and criticise their lifestyles. as a pro, trying just isnt enough. a good performance begins off the pitch on the training paddock, in the way you treat and repect your body and in the dedication you show to progression. if that is being shown by our players, it is not evident enough. with regards to dan, he is a magnificent stalwart and leaves a massive set of glasgow coloured boots for jackson to fill. here's hoping he can, but heres also hoping we havent seen the last of dan yet

Posted by Derek on April 20, 2009 10:47 AM

This season has been a dissapointment in as much that we have slipped back the way in terms results on the pitch. The main reason why we are not serioulsy competing at the business end of tournaments is that we have four or five guys in our starting XV who are simply not good enough.

We also have very little cover in most postions. On Friday Sean said on the Radio that he may use the last three games to try out some other players. But honestly looking outside the 22 on Friday are there that many players that stick out as being able to come in and improve the team?

If we are to move forward we are going to need new faces next season. So far we have signed two, Cuister who will improve the team and Dewey who cant at the moment even get in the Ulster A team. Now Rob may come in and do a job for us and I hope he does. But will he be any better than Henderson who we are losing?

It also looks as if Parks is for the off, while he is not everyones cup of team (in a Glasgow shirt I fail to see why) he would leave a massive hole in our squad. We would be left with a Rookie Ten and no backup, plus no reliable goal-kicker assuming Gregor is not playing Full Back next year.

With Serious proven Scottish talent costing too much to bring home, then if we are going to get better then we may have to look overseas to plug some of the gaps. If we choose to go down that route again, then the coaching staff will be under severe pressure to make sure they get it right.

Posted by ablodiabla on April 20, 2009 11:07 AM

why can the SRU not provide finance, or any of our weeg businessman for that matter, to allow glasgow and edinburgh to really finance the academy system? we need, as a necessity, for it to be like the english, welsh, australian and new zealand systems. look at our u18 losing 63-0 and 75-0 to the English and our u20s being played off the park vs England despite it being the best team since Messrs Hogg, Phillip, MacDonald etc. We cannot compete! Jackson is an u20 graduate from last season and is doing OK but in England they have noah cato, jordan turner hall, hugo ellis, alex goode, alex tait, rory clegg etc turning out for full teams or A teams. blair connor, quade cooper, rob horne, lachlan turner, james o'connor and pockock, kade poki etc in super 14...we will never compete until we have all of our top u21s, or even u23s in an academy system of intensive training, conditioning and skills work. how it is done is beyond me as a mere fan and player, but i dread to think how much talent has gone missing from our pro and national squads over the last 4 years of age grade rugby due to bad man management. english players who dont make age grade at u18 and u19 are still in academies working hard and training in the right atmosphere before appearing at u20 or even pro level as they develop. our players who dont make it at 17,18,19 are left to languish in prem2 or prem3 training twice a week playing mediocre old men and has beens before shuffling off down the pub. if this can change, it HAS to change asap. stop the rot and stop the imports, use homegrown and develop. look at arsene wenger and his development of youth in football. it will pay dividends at some stage.

Posted by ablodiabla on April 20, 2009 11:10 AM

and yes i know we have pete horne, richie gray, chris kinloch, frazer mckenzie and so on all involved in the academy but its just far too small a pool of players selected at 18 then failing to perform again. the broader our academy, the more players we will see coming through the ranks. i could list many many players who have not been seen since age grade but would benefit in england from their system

Posted by matt74 on April 20, 2009 11:23 AM

Speaking of Dan. A couple of misguided folk (presumably Edinburgh fans) emailed the paper to slag him off on the basis of his missed kick. One went so far as to say (and don't laugh all at once): "Jackson should've played"! Any excuse for a witch-hunt it seems.

Are you going to report Thom to the club if his actions after the game upset you so much?

Posted by Derek on April 20, 2009 12:02 PM

Scarlets have just signed All Black Daniel Braid, cracking signing. Suppose that highlights the problems we have, the Scarlets have an average season and they can recruit guys of that quality.

Posted by Big Blue on April 20, 2009 01:03 PM

A couple of points from above. Could "Manatthe back" tell us which "proper rugby ground" we can move to? Secondly, the description of Thom Evans as some kind of big time Charlie is not the image most of us have of him.

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