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December 04, 2011

Newport Gwent Dragons 14 - 14 Glasgow Warriors

GUINNESS PRO12 match played at Rodney Parade on Sunday December 4th 2011 | 6 comments

Scott wight grabbed the Glasgow try
An injury-time penalty from the Dragons denied Glasgow another away day victory in a 14-14 draw at Rodney Parade this evening.

Tries from Tom Riley for the home side and Glasgow's Scott Wight were the only high points of an otherwise average match dominated by the boot - Warriors' Ruaridh Jackson slotting three penalties, with Tovey adding two to Steffan Jones' effort.

In a lively opening 15 minutes, the Dragons had all the territory only to see the Warriors claim the points.

Fly-half Jackson booted a penalty from nearly halfway before home stand-off Jones missed with a tight drop-goal and a routine 25-metre penalty in front of the posts.

But, while both teams looked to throw the ball around, the half deteriorated as a spectacle with too many errors that caused ref David Wilkinson to blow the whistle.

It especially hurt the Dragons' cause. They spilled ball continuously before the break when building towards decent attacking situations.

The Dragons glimpsed the try-line when South African wing Tonderai Chavhanga dashed down the left only to step into touch when number eight John Beattie attempted to tackle, while Jones' confidence took a further knock as he sliced another penalty wide of the uprights.

Jackson doubled Glasgow's advantage with a 35-metre penalty two minutes after the break before Jones finally held his composure and thumped over a 27-metre shot at goal.

What Glasgow needed was a bit of territory inside the home half and, after trying various ways, a huge up-and-under from a penalty inside their half, taken by Jackson, saw Jones clattered by flying flanker Chris Fusaro.

And then, when the ball was laid back, home captain Ashley Smith infringed on the ground, giving Jackson a third penalty to make the score 9-3.

The tide turned the Dragons way for a while when replacement Tovey kicked a penalty to close the arrears to three points.

Things began to get very interesting in the final quarter as TV match official Tony Rowlands was called into action three times to adjudicate on potential tries.

The Dragons went ahead 11-9 when Riley was surprisingly adjudged tp have evaded Colin Shaw's attention to score a try in the left corner, while replacement Rob Harley was also sent to the sin-bin for a previous incident.

Home wing Adam Hughes nearly got another moments later but Rowlands judged that he made a double movement in grounding.

The pendulum swung back to Glasgow when home flanker Lewis Evans made a howling mistake his own line, allowing replacement Wight to sneak in and score under his nose.

It was not going to be the Warriors' day, though, as referee Wilkinson awarded a penalty in the last seconds for Tovey to secure the draw.

Head coach Sean Lineen said: "It was a disappointing way to finish, but we've taken two points from a tough away trip so we can't be overly down.

"The guys showed great character and commitment again, and I'm delighted for Scott Wight - what great opportunism from the lad.

"We've kept unbeaten run going and we've now got four huge matches against Montpellier and Edinburgh to focus on. We're bang up for the challenge."

Referee D Wilkinson (IRFU)
Attendance
Team
1
Jon Welsh
2
Dougie Hall
3
Ed Kalman
4
Tom Ryder
5
Rob Verbakel
6
Calum Forrester
7
Chris Fusaro
8
John Beattie
9
Henry Pyrgos
10
Ruaridh Jackson
11
Colin Shaw
12
Troy Nathan
13
Rob Dewey
14
David Lemi
15
Peter Murchie
Sub
Finlay Gillies
Sub
Moray Low
Sub
Gordon Reid
Sub
Robert Harley
Sub
Scott Wight
Sub
Ryan Wilson
Sub
Alex Dunbar
Sub
Murray McConnell
Match Substitutions
Off On
Ed Kalman Moray Low
Off On
Calum Forrester Robert Harley
Off On
Dougie Hall Finlay Gillies
Off On
John Beattie Ryan Wilson
Off On
Jon Welsh Gordon Reid
Off On
Troy Nathan Alex Dunbar
Off On
Ruaridh Jackson Scott Wight
Scorers
Ruaridh Jackson Penalty
Ruaridh Jackson Penalty
Ruaridh Jackson Penalty
Scott Wight Try 
Posted by Phil on December 4, 2011 08:56 PM | Reply to this comment

Johnny Beattie was fantastic today. Great to see him back in fine form.

Posted by Coruisk on December 4, 2011 10:00 PM | Reply to this comment

Lots of mistakes from Glasgow and disappointing to miss out on the win.

However, there were a numer of plusses.

Our defence was pretty good.
Johnnie Beattie looked more like the player we know he is.
Some guys got some much needed gametime under their belts.
Scott Wight got a wee boost to his confidence.

We've struggled at Rodney Parade before so to come away with two points isn't too bad.

Posted by sandy dennison on December 5, 2011 09:31 AM | Reply to this comment

Yes, there were positives to be taken from the game particularly with regard to endeavour and perseverance. However, the old problem of poor decision making remains. Indeed, had the ball not been kicked away two minutes prior to the final whistle but retained by the forwards, the Warriors would have won the game. Still, considering the Dragons must have had 75% possession and 75% territory, we did well to get a draw.

Posted by SnowedIn on December 5, 2011 10:56 AM | Reply to this comment

Wheres the desire to win ?? shocking game yesterday.poor decision making and shocking kicking from Jackson and Pyrgos.We were lucky with the draw to be honest and we were lucky last week to win against Ulster. Glasgow needs its Fire and Desire back if we are to do it on Sunday

Posted by Hugues on December 5, 2011 04:18 PM | Reply to this comment

Lucky indeed, Glasgow was so unlucky for sometimes (especially against the dragons, I remember a game at Rodney Parade, I think last year, glasgow lost because of a shocking referee),It is the sign of a great Glasgow Rugby team growing.
The defence was good, scrum too, but I agree with some comments, some poor decision making.

The warriors seemed to be happy enough with a good defence, and some kicks to win the game, of course Montpellier won't be the Dragons next Sunday, and to win they will need to put much more pressure and play a more attacking game!

However, it is encouraging to see Glasgow with almost 2 starting XV.

Posted by steve on December 7, 2011 01:23 PM | Reply to this comment

Instant caveat that Ruaridh Jackson hasn't had much game time - but it troubles me that he seems to be the shoo-in for Scotland and Glasgow - despite Duncan Weir's superb form. We should be picking on form. And I remain to be convinced by Jackson - his decision making and certainly his place kicking. Andy Robinson should be having a long hard look at his options and picking the best one - regardless of age or who was around first.

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