Sharp work from Graeme Beveridge brought Glasgow's first try

Felipe Contempomi was the hero for Leinster in an evenly-contested but distinctly average match, which was played on a greasy surface with a strong wind blowing down the pitch, and in front of a disappointingly sparse crowd.

Parks, in contrast, landed only one from seven in the match, and the misses were all kicks that might have made enough of a difference to the score that Leinster would have thought twice about their enterprise, such as their opting for the line-out from a penalty that led to their second try, for example.

The increase in Leinster's confidence was visible each time Parks was off-target though, and Glasgow, who provided the early running, were forced to play catch-up for much of the match despite their good early work.

Glasgow dominated the opening ten minutes, with one good break by Graeme Morrison going unrewarded from the subsequent penalty, but it was Leinster who opened the scoring when Contempomi's boot converted Leinster's first penalty of the game.

Wing Hefin O'Hare and lock Timothy Barker also made breaks for Glasgow in the opening quarter of an hour, and after the supporting Craig Hamilton was pulled back of the ball in support of Barker's break, Parks landed his one and only successful penalty to level the scores.

Contempomi's restart from that did not go ten metres, and it seemed as though Leinster might crumble. But they regrouped superbly, and after Contempomi spun out of a tackle to take Leinster crashing into Glasgow's 22, the Irishmen worked it wide and right for winger Kieran Lewis to score a simple try.

By the half-hour mark, Parks had missed a pair of penalties already, which would have had Glasgow leading 9-8. Graeme Morrison gave him another chance to take Glasgow into the lead with a well-worked try, started by the lively Graeme Beveridge's break and finished in style on the right, but again Parks was off-target, and still Glasgow could not sneak ahead.

Contempomi restored the lead with a monster 50m penalty - helped by the wind, which had a significant effect on the kicks from hand - and then Leinster struck a killer blow just before half-time.

The forwards opted to drive a line-out from a penalty, and with the maul rolling towards the left, flanker Ciaran Potts peeled right off the back to storm through the absent cover. That made it 16-8 at the break, but Parks' misses were worth 11 points, and 19-16 to Glasgow would not have been an unfair score.

Leinster hooker Bernard Jackman rolled his ankle trotting back out onto the pitch for the second half, and the Irish rhythm seemed significantly disrupted by the bizarre injury. They conceded three penalties in the opening ten minutes as Glasgow pressured their way back into the game, with Keith Gleeson lucky not to get a yellow card for killing the ball.

Eventually the defensive line broke, Morrison again the breaker. Parks missed the tricky kick, and it was 13-16.

Parks missed two more as Glasgow maintained their momentum, and when Leinster managed to get down into Glasgow territory they got a penalty which Contempomi converted easily. Glasgow heads began to drop.

Contempomi sealed the game with a moment of magic, shimmying and dummying his way through some lax defence for an excellent score under the posts, and questions had to be asked as to the whereabouts of the Glasgow back row. Contempomi converted his own try as Parks left the field, and also converted Gordon D'Arcy's deft chip and catch for the fourth try.

Glasgow's Andrew Henderson added a consolation effort after good work by Sam Pinder.

You can see photos from today's game here

Report from rugbyrugby.com