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February 22, 2013

Glasgow Warriors 20 - 14 Ulster

GUINNESS PRO12 match played at Scotstoun on Friday February 22nd 2013 | No comments

Tim Swinson went over for Glasgow's first try
Glasgow edged out PRO12 leaders Ulster at Scotstoun to slash their advantage at the top of the table to just three points.

Gregor Townsend's men, fresh from last weekend's record-breaking 60-3 mauling of Newport-Gwent Dragons, completed their sixth successive league victory to ensure a thrilling climax to the league campaign.

Yet they flirted with disaster as stand-off Peter Horne missed all five of his goal attempts, including an embarrassing conversion effort late in the second half while stationed dead centre and just 15 yards from the posts.

However, tries from Tim Swinson, Tommy Seymour, Peter Murchie and Nikola Matawalu were enough to hold off a determined Ulster side who could only manage three successful penalties from Ruan Pienaar and Stuart Olding's second-half touchdown.

The victory thrilled a capacity 5,600-strong crowd but there were worried looks as the hosts' South African wing DTH van der Merwe was stretchered off wearing a neck brace and oxygen mask eight minutes into second half following a clash of heads.

Thankfully the early prognosis from Glasgow's medics was positive and his immediate withdrawal had only been precautionary.

Ulster were first to trouble the scoreboard as South African scrum-half Pienaar made up for one ambitious 45-yard penalty miss by succeeding with another from a similar lengthy distance six minutes in.

Pienaar's power with the boot was contrasted by Horne - making his 50th appearance for Warriors - who failed to even reach the goalposts with his tame first effort from just outside the Ulster 22.

It was a kick the fly-half should have managed with ease, but instead he would miss again as he failed to convert Swinson's opening try on 13 minutes.

The score came as Glasgow worked quick ball from the left while the visitors found themselves hopelessly outnumbered on the opposite side. Centre Mark Bennett spotted the three-on-one imbalance and played in Swinson to swan dive over the line for his third score in two games after his double against Dragons.

The league leaders though failed to make much of their own ventures forward, first failing to cross over as Michael Allan was held up by Alex Dunbar and then later suffering a handling lapse as Andrew Trimble closed in on the whitewash.

Pienaar, however, did keep them ticking over in the meantime, putting over a second penalty to hand Ulster a 6-5 lead.

The scores remained as such until two minutes before the break when Warriors scrum-half Matawalu robbed Pienaar as he waited for the ball to emerge from a scrum and handed over to right wing Seymour for a simple finish. A third miss by Horne, though, kept the score at 10-6.

Pienaar finally missed with the boot as he erred from just 20 meters out, while the home side's Pat MacArthur was held up at point-blank range right before the half-time break by some determined Ulster defending.

Just 31 seconds into the second period, however, they just about handed the hosts their third touchdown on a plate.

Full-back Murchie chased down Paddy Wallace's kick five meters from his own try line and snaffled up the loose ball to extend Glasgow's lead to nine points.

A fourth miss with the boot from Horne meant another unconverted try and Pienaar was able to add a third penalty of his own to bring the scores to 15-9.

Ulster thought they had then conjured their first try after 62 minutes when number eight Robbie Diack crossed over but Welsh referee Nigel Owens called it back for a forward pass.

But Mark Anscombe's team were enjoying their most prolonged spell in Glasgow territory and finally found their way over the tryline on 67 minutes as Olding made the most of an overload down the right to score in the corner. Pienaar, though, missed for a second time with the conversion to leave the score at just 15-14 in the Scots' favour.

Just as it looked set for a tense finish, however, Glasgow struck again as Matawalu collected a stunning offload by substitute Sean Kennedy just as he hit the deck to run in under the posts.

The fact that Horne pulled wide even the straightforward conversion that followed illustrated just how low his confidence with the boot had sank.

Morale among his colleagues, though, will soar high as they prepare for the final six games of the season and the fight for the play-off places.

"I was living every moment of that last 20 minutes," Gregor Townsend told BBC Radio Scotland after the match. "What an effort from the players. I'm so proud.

"At the end, they were hanging on. They wanted that win and they fought every inch for it.

"Last week I was really proud of the team because players that hadn't been getting opportunities stepped up and played really well and now I'm really proud of the character," added Townsend.

"Our ambition was really good. We ended up with four tries, could've had a couple more so that's great for the league table.

"It brings Ulster back into the mix. We're now three points behind them so getting the bonus point was crucial and we've got some big games coming up; we play six of the top seven teams.

"We've just got to keep on producing the results and aim for a home semi-final."

Glasgow skipper Ryan Wilson said: “It was a very important win for us. We have gone from wanting to be a top-four team, to being in the top two, and now after this we are going to push for the top spot. We didn’t put Ulster away as we have done with other teams but we should have done. We were angry that we did not turn the pressure we had into points, and that is a measure of how far this club has come to be in this position.”

Referee Nigel Owens (Wales)
Attendance Nikola Matawalu
Man of the Match 5,613
Team
1
Ofa Fainga'anuku
2
Pat MacArthur
3
Ed Kalman
4
Tim Swinson
5
Tom Ryder
6
Josh Strauss
7
John Barclay
8
Ryan Wilson
9
Nikola Matawalu
10
Peter Horne
11
DTH van der Merwe
12
Alex Dunbar
13
Mark Bennett
14
Tommy Seymour
15
Peter Murchie
Sub
Fraser Brown
Sub
Luke Pettie
Sub
Garry Mountford
Sub
Nick Campbell
Sub
James Eddie
Sub
Sean Kennedy
Sub
Scott Wight
Sub
Graeme Morrison
Match Substitutions
Off On
DTH van der Merwe Sean Kennedy
Off On
Mark Bennett Graeme Morrison
Off On
John Barclay James Eddie
Off On
Ryan Wilson Nick Campbell
Off On
Pat MacArthur Fraser Brown
Off On
Peter Murchie Scott Wight
Off On
Ed Kalman Garry Mountford
Scorers
Tim Swinson Try 
Tommy Seymour Try 
Peter Murchie Try 
Nikola Matawalu Try