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December 06, 2013

Cardiff Blues 29 - 20 Glasgow Warriors

Heineken Cup match played at Arms Park on Friday December 6th 2013 | No comments

Leone Nakarawa went over for Glasgow's second try
The Warriors' European hopes suffered a huge blow as Cardiff made them pay for their indiscipline and mistakes in Cardiff this evening.

Glasgow started positively enough but Cardiff threatened on the counter attack as Macauley Cook broke free before earning a penalty which Leigh Halfpenny put wide of the posts.

But the Lions full-back soon found his range with an easier penalty to put the Blues 3-0 up after 10 minutes.

The game continued at a frenetic pace and Alex Cuthbert broke the length of the field but knocked on as he tried to touch down.

Fly-half Patchell extended Cardiff's lead with a penalty from inside his own half with a quarter of the game played.

Despite the positive start, Glasgow continued to make errors and Duncan Weir's knock on inside his own try area handed Cardiff the perfect platform to pile on the pressure.

Cuthbert punctured Glasgow's defensive line from the scrum and the ball was fed wide to Patchell who crashed over the try-line, with Halfpenny converting.

Halfpenny slotted his second penalty of the evening to put the Blues further in front as the game ticked towards half-time.

But Glasgow got a crucial try on the stroke of half-time as Sean Maitland beat the Cardiff defence to cross over the whitewash, as Weir kicked the extras.

The second half started in explosive style with both teams attacking from the offset as Lloyd Williams went desperately close for the hosts.

Halfpenny split the posts with yet another penalty kick to put Cardiff 12 points ahead as Gregor Townsend's side continued to make a host of errors.

afydd Hewitt was the first Cardiff player to concede a penalty after 51 minutes as he failed to release Hogg in the tackle area and Weir slotted the penalty to reduce Glasgow's deficit to nine points.

The visitors were back to within a converted score as Weir kicked another penalty after Hewitt was penalised for a high tackle on the Scotland international.

Mistakes continued to flood Glasgow's game as Weir booted the ball out of play on the full before Halfpenny restored Cardiff's nine point advantage with a fifth successful penalty with 10 minutes of the match to go.

And Phil Davies' side secured the win as Wales winger Cuthbert intercepted deep inside his own half before running in a solo effort from 60 metres out.

Halfpenny added the conversion before replacement Leone Nakarawa scored a late consolation for the visitors, before Weir kicked the conversion, but the damage was already done and Cardiff held on for the victory.

The two sides will meet again at Scotstoun next Friday in Round 4.

After the game a disappointed Gregor Townsend said: "Cardiff played well, they put a lot of pressure on us at the breakdown.

"It was a game of momentum swings, I thought we played pretty well in the first 15 minutes, we were making a lot of yards but just couldn't get the points on the board.

"Our performance next week will have to be a lot better. Cardiff showed what a good side they are; they've won two home games in the Heineken Cup and tonight they showed their quality and how much they wanted it and we've got to show that next week."

Al Kellock added: "I felt throughout the whole game we built pressure but then we relieved it ourselves. Some of it was self-inflicted but credit to the way they reacted when we did cough up the ball and credit to them for the pressure they put on at the breakdown.

"We cannot make it easy for teams to get out of their own 22 and we did that repeatedly."

Referee George Clancy (Ireland)
Attendance
Team
1
Ryan Grant
2
Dougie Hall
3
Moray Low
4
Tom Ryder
5
Alastair Kellock
6
Robert Harley
7
Chris Fusaro
8
Josh Strauss
9
Nikola Matawalu
10
Duncan Weir
11
DTH van der Merwe
12
Alex Dunbar
13
Gabriel Ascarate
14
Sean Maitland
15
Stuart Hogg
Sub
Pat MacArthur
Sub
Jon Welsh
Sub
Ed Kalman
Sub
Leone Nakarawa
Sub
Tyrone Holmes
Sub
Ryan Wilson
Sub
Chris Cusiter
Sub
Ruaridh Jackson
Match Substitutions
Off On
Chris Fusaro Tyrone Holmes
Off On
Moray Low Jon Welsh
Off On
Dougie Hall Pat MacArthur
Off On
Tom Ryder Leone Nakarawa
Off On
Robert Harley Ryan Wilson
Off On
Gabriel Ascarate Ruaridh Jackson
Off On
Stuart Hogg Chris Cusiter
Off On
Ryan Grant Ed Kalman