Glasgow Warriors | Northampton Saints v Glasgow Warriors
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October 13, 2012

Northampton 24 - 15 Glasgow Warriors

Heineken Cup match played at Franklin's Gardens on Sunday October 14th 2012 | No comments

Josh Strauss went over for Glasgow's first try
Glasgow Warriors didn't get the Heineken Cup start they wanted as they went down 24-15 to Northampton at Franklin's Gardens this afternoon.

In an enthralling opening period, it was the Warriors who took a 15-0 lead thanks to touchdowns from Josh Strauss and Sean Lamont.

Peter Horne added the rest of their points with the boot before Northampton fought back through George Pisi's double.

Two further tries in the second half from Stephen Myler and Vasily Artemyev sealed the victory for the hosts.

The Saints have started the season well, but a 39-17 thrashing at the hands of London Irish last week gave them the worse possible preparation going into this encounter.

And they were on the back foot immediately against Glasgow, who approached the match superbly and took a 3-0 lead through the boot of Horne.

Although the opening quarter had yielded just three points, both teams looked to move the ball wide.

Northampton's centre Pisi was the next to go close, but some outstanding last-ditch defence from Sean Lamont prevented him from touching down.

They were made to pay for their profligacy as the visitors surged clear through a try from Josh Strauss. The Warriors' stand-off then added the conversion before Glasgow extended the lead to 15-0.

The Warriors had shown intent throughout to attack and a sweeping backline move ended in Lamont crossing the whitewash.

However, the hosts battled back with well-taken tries from Pisi - the second being set-up by his brother Ken - as they reduced the arrears to three points at the break.

Despite their poor opening half-hour, the Midlands' side started to control the game just before the interval and the second period continued with Northampton dominating.

And they duly completed the comeback when Myler touched down after good hands from the Saints' front-row.

While the home team controlled majority of the half, they struggled to put away Glasgow with their stand-off disappointing with the boot, but the victory was sealed when Artemyev went over to gain the bonus-point, with Ryan Lamb converting.

Gregor Townsend told glasgowwarriors.org: “We’re all massively disappointed not to have won the game. We put ourselves in a position to do so with some great work in the first 30 minutes, where we took them on in their areas of strength and really had the edge.

“In every game, and especially away from home in the Heineken Cup, you need to play for 80 minutes, and we know we didn’t do that. Our defending off a couple of their set-pieces wasn’t as good as we’d expect, and at a time when we should really have been looking to press home our advantage, we ended up being up against it.

“Those first 30 minutes are what we’re all about, and if we can produce that over the piece against Ulster, we know we’re more than capable of securing the victory we need.”

Referee Romain Poite (France)
Attendance 12,115
Team
1
Ryan Grant
2
Dougie Hall
3
Michael Cusack
4
Tim Swinson
5
Alastair Kellock
6
Josh Strauss
7
John Barclay
8
Ryan Wilson
9
Henry Pyrgos
10
Ruaridh Jackson
11
Sean Lamont
12
Peter Horne
13
Alex Dunbar
14
Tommy Seymour
15
Stuart Hogg
Sub
Finlay Gillies
Sub
Gordon Reid
Sub
Ofa Fainga'anuku
Sub
Tom Ryder
Sub
James Eddie
Sub
Chris Fusaro
Sub
Nikola Matawalu
Sub
Peter Murchie
Match Substitutions
Off On
Stuart Hogg Peter Murchie
Off On
Ruaridh Jackson Nikola Matawalu
Off On
Tim Swinson Tom Ryder
Off On
John Barclay Chris Fusaro
Off On
Josh Strauss James Eddie
Off On
Sean Lamont Finlay Gillies
Off On
Ryan Grant Ofa Fainga'anuku
Scorers
Peter Horne Penalty
Josh Strauss Try 
Peter Horne Conversion
Sean Lamont Try