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October 24, 2010

Glasgow Warriors 31 - 23 Ospreys

GUINNESS PRO12 match played at Firhill on Sunday October 24th 2010 | 8 comments

Peter Horne sparked some fine Glasgow play when he came on in the second-half
Glasgow gained revenge for last season's Celtic semi-final defeat and ended a four-match losing streak in the Magners League as a strong second-half performance saw them defeat star-studded Ospreys 31-23 at Firhill.

The Welsh visitors led 16-11 at half-time after two tries from Scotland wing Nikki Walker and two penalties from Dan Biggar. Richie Gray crossed for the hosts with Ruaridh Jackson adding two penalties.

But the Warriors stepped it up after the break as Richie Vernon and Kevin Tkachuk claimed tries to give them breathing space, before Walker completed his hat-trick late on as the Ospreys missed out on a losing bonus point.

It looked as though Glasgow were going to be on the wrong end of a serious hammering in the early stages as nothing went right for the home side from woeful handling to non-existent tackling.

Biggar had the Ospreys on the board after only three minutes after a Glasgow handling move had gone askew, and three minutes later came a try which was nothing short of embarrassing as Jerry Collins and Lee Byrne put Walker away but even the wing could not have expected such a powder puff tackle from Rob Dewey as he bolted over the line.

The Ospreys were on top in every department and when Biggar missed a long-range penalty it seemed only a matter of time before they increased their lead, although the visitors were dealt a blow when full-back Byrne departed with a hand injury that puts his involvement in Wales' autumn internationals in doubt.

On the quarter-hour mark, Jackson slotted a penalty for Glasgow which brought them to life.

Biggar landed his second penalty but by now the home side were contesting the breakdown and were giving as good as they got.

Their first try arrived when Colin Gregor popped the ball up to lock Gray who took off over the 22 and sold an outrageous dummy to score.

Just when it looked as though Glasgow were going to take control, the simplest of defensive errors saw Tommy Bowe find Biggar on a run around which baffled the home defence and the efforts of Gregor and Jackson could not prevent Walker claiming his second try.

With three minutes of the half left, Dougie Hall was pulled down inches short and Gray and Moray Low were held up before Ryan Jones collected a yellow card for a professional foul.

Jackson duly kicked the resulting penalty and Glasgow went in 16-11 adrift ruing some very basic errors.

Into the second half it was the Ospreys who looked uncomfortable and Glasgow's confidence grew after a sparkling handling move which almost saw Alastair Muldowney over in the corner, but Jackson landed another penalty to reduce the margin to two points.

Biggar had the chance to stretch the Ospreys lead but his missed kick was one of the few mistakes the young fly-half made as he controlled a game in which more experienced heads around him were in panic.

Jackson missed the chance to give Glasgow the lead after a great run by Vernon but a couple of minutes later his replacement Duncan Weir banged over the kick which took the home side ahead for the first time.

It was all Glasgow now with the Ospreys defence looking increasingly vulnerable and when Barclay pinched the ball from the base of a creaking Ospreys scrum he almost made the line, and nothing was going to stop Vernon crashing over off Gregor's pass.

Weir converted, Glasgow kept a stranglehold on the last 10 minutes and when replacement Ed Kalman combined with Tkachuk for his fellow prop to score it slammed the door on the Ospreys, although Walker did go over for his hat-trick try in injury time.

Report from Sporting Life

Referee David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Attendance 2,554
Man of the Match Richie Gray
Team
1
Jon Welsh
2
Dougie Hall
3
Moray Low
4
Richie Gray
5
Aly Muldowney
6
Robert Harley
7
John Barclay
8
Richie Vernon
9
Colin Gregor
10
Ruaridh Jackson
11
Rob Dewey
12
Graeme Morrison
13
Max Evans
14
Colin Shaw
15
Bernardo Stortoni
Sub
Fergus Thomson
Sub
Kevin Tkachuk
Sub
Ed Kalman
Sub
Tom Ryder
Sub
Calum Forrester
Sub
Henry Pyrgos
Sub
Duncan Weir
Sub
Peter Horne
Match Substitutions
Off On
Moray Low Ed Kalman
Off On
Rob Dewey Peter Horne
Off On
Aly Muldowney Tom Ryder
Off On
Dougie Hall Fergus Thomson
Off On
Ruaridh Jackson Duncan Weir
Off On
Robert Harley Calum Forrester
Off On
Jon Welsh Kevin Tkachuk
Scorers
Ruaridh Jackson Penalty
Richie Gray Try 
Ruaridh Jackson Penalty
Ruaridh Jackson Penalty
Duncan Weir Penalty
Richie Vernon Try 
Duncan Weir Conversion
Kevin Tkachuk Try 
Duncan Weir Conversion
Posted by Alan on October 24, 2010 10:42 PM | Reply to this comment

So, will we see more of Peter Horne and will Kalman start next week?

Posted by steve on October 24, 2010 11:26 PM | Reply to this comment

Another fine day's officiating by the SRU diddies running the line - absolutely awful. No wonder the Ospreys blitz defence is so effective when it starts a yard in front of the back foot. Not good enough. Referee was totally out of his depth too. Well done to the lads for coming through despite playing 18 men.

Posted by thumper on October 25, 2010 05:54 PM | Reply to this comment

Very harsh on the referee.... (who incidentally started his refereeing career in Glasgow whilst at Uni here) Thought he was quite adept at picking up Ospreys offences, certainly more so than some of his compatriots who have done Glasgow games in the past. Agree about the touch judges but then that's the norm for officiating in Scotland these days...we haven't had a decent ref since Hosie and Sanson!

Posted by Tony Steedman on October 25, 2010 09:28 AM | Reply to this comment

Great performance Glasgow - but send Rob Dewey on a one way trip to Mingulay and give Peter Horne a run in the team. Great pace.

Posted by Alistair on October 25, 2010 09:45 AM | Reply to this comment

Tremendous second half performance, for once we played the referee like a banjo, we got away with murder and it allowed us to play a brilliant continuity game.

Splendid stuff.

Posted by Hugues on October 25, 2010 11:54 PM | Reply to this comment

BRILLIANT second half, to be a bit young and raw is not bad!
Even if Ospreys got some ex All Blacks, the young warriors back row was awesome and fast!
I noticed Beattie(before the surgery)had a good skill, after the first contact, bouncing, turning on himself with pace and still alive to go forward, quite hard to tackle, and his Glasgow folks doing the same efficiently, especially, Thomson, Barclay and Vernon.
So often one metre from the line, not able to score, Vernon showed the way, taking the ball with PACE!
Horne had a good impact, freshness.
Still some work about tackling at legs (Walker tries in the first half).
Congratulations to the team and the crowd!
Despite some people not happy with the "poor" tv coverage of rugby in Scotland, many thanks to BBC Alba!

Posted by GMJ on October 26, 2010 08:17 AM | Reply to this comment

Regarding the referee...I pay to watch rugby not to sit and constantly critisize the decisions made or in some cases not made by ref.

Sitting in front of me was a"gentleman" who in typical Glasgow fashion slated the referee for not penilising Ospreys at a breakdown, where immediately the ball was passed to Ritchie Gray , who scored a great try.
Gentleman then PRAISED the ref. ???????????????????

Posted by steve on October 27, 2010 11:04 AM | Reply to this comment

Yeah I pay to watch rugby rather than criticise the officiating too - but Lineen is spot on - not having neutral touch judges is detracting from the game - if we can all see the blitz defence a yard offside - why dont the touch judges call it? These streetwise teams will play the officials unless they're refereed properly - and stark truth is - in the Magners - they arent.

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