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January 28, 2006

Glasgow Warriors 8 - 22 Ospreys

Celtic League match played at Old Anniesland on Friday January 27th 2006 | 10 comments

Kevin Tkachuk scored Glasgow's try
Glasgow's hopes of claiming a Heineken Cup berth next season were dealt a blow when the Celtic League champions dug deep to edge a dour clash at Old Anniesland.

The Warriors dominated for long spells but were never able to recover from a disastrous start which saw them fall 10 points behind in the opening seven minutes.

Hugh Campbell's men were playing catch-up straight from the kick-off when hooker Fergus Thomson was penalised for smothering the ball after being engulfed by a clutch of Welsh forwards. Full-back Adrian Cashmore began a personal purple patch by slotting the kick.

Cashmore then stretched the Ospreys' lead when he plunged over near the left touchline after the visitors switched possession from a scrum on the opposite side.

The full-back converted his own try to put jittery Glasgow firmly on the back foot.

Hopes of a comeback were dashed by a string of unforced errors with even Rory Lamont guilty of squandering good possession.

The Scotland star looked the Warriors' most likely source of a morale-boosting score but when his chance came Lamont kicked too far ahead with Mike Roberts screaming for a pass.

Glasgow enjoyed a let-off when Cashmore missed a straightforward penalty after an infringement by Gregor Hayter.

Suddenly Campbell's men looked in the mood to make a game of it but their hopes nosedived when stand-off Colin Gregor missed two long-distance penalties. His first effort agonisingly dipped onto the cross bar while the next had enough distance but drifted wide.

However, the Warriors' luck changed on the restart when the forwards' good lineout possession set up a ferocious drive towards the line and power prop Kevin Tkachuk plunged over for the try. Gregor's hit woodwork for a second time when his conversion rebounded from an upright.

The Ospreys hit back when Shaun Connor slotted a neat drop-goal before Gregor responded with a penalty in front of the posts.

But a late hat-trick of penalties by Connor sealed victory for the visitors.

Coach Hugh Campbell said: "You can't win if you don't have the ball. We didn't have it often enough and when we did we didn't do enough with it.

"Our lineout also wasn't functioning well enough and after giving them a start there was no way back."

Referee Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Attendance 1,335
Team
1
Kevin Tkachuk
2
Fergus Thomson
3
Euan Murray
4
Dan Turner
5
Gregor Hayter
6
Steve Swindall
7
John Barclay
8
Jon Petrie
9
Graeme Beveridge
10
Colin Gregor
11
Mike Roberts
12
Graeme Morrison
13
Andy Craig
14
Hefin O'Hare
15
Rory Lamont
Sub
Eric Milligan
Sub
Lee Harrison
Sub
Craig Hamilton
Sub
James Eddie
Sub
Sam Pinder
Sub
Ben Cairns
Sub
Graydon Staniforth
Match Substitutions
Off On
Andy Craig Ben Cairns
Off On
Ben Cairns Andy Craig
Off On
Gregor Hayter Craig Hamilton
Off On
Hefin O'Hare Graydon Staniforth
Off On
Graeme Beveridge Sam Pinder
Off On
Euan Murray Lee Harrison
Scorers
Kevin Tkachuk Try 
Colin Gregor Penalty
Comments
Posted by Big col on January 28, 2006 09:16 AM | Reply to this comment

First game of the season that I have missed.Didn't sound like a great game though. Interesting to see the attendance was greater on a Friday evening at at rugby ground that a European tie at a football ground on a Sunday afternoon.Seems to be, the the so called superb facilities for the fans at Firhill are not pulling in the punters, strange that.Maybe its the lack of reserved seating or maybe the bird crap on seats or is it the lovely bar workers or stewards bawling to get people out of the bar or long queues to get a drink in the first place.
Answers on a postcard please.

Posted by Alistair on January 28, 2006 10:09 AM | Reply to this comment

Was this Glagow's worst ever home performance? If not what game are you nominating?

I truly could not believe the absolute rubbish that I saw last night. The back three looked like they'd rather kill themselves than pass the ball, everyone who took the ball in the centre showed the handling skills of a haddock, Gregor was responsible for kicking the ball away at the worst possible times and often in the worst possible way (how many times was he blocked or charged down?) and as for the pack - I haven't seen such a supine performance from Glasgow in all the years I have watched them.

Posted by grumpy on January 28, 2006 12:00 PM | Reply to this comment

Have to go along with Alistair , that was an embarassing excuse for a performance. Does Rory realise that he's allowed to pass the ball ? We seem to have gone backwards and everyone else is pulling away. OK , a lot of the reffing decisions were eccentric to say the least ,but that shouldn't distract us from the display.

Oh for the days of Kiwi.

Posted by bossco85 on January 28, 2006 06:46 PM | Reply to this comment

an absoloute disaster.
this is actualy the worst i have ever seen glasgow play in all the time ive been watching them. the pack especialy looked very unfit, bevvy is past his best now, things only looked better wen sammy came on, gregor was poor and the centre pairing is the slowest least effective thing i have ever seen. heff tried hard as did mike but rory needs to learn how to play full back, his positioning was poor as was his decision making.
what can glasgow do frm here?
someone tell me please because i'm all out ideas!

Posted by McDruid on January 28, 2006 06:58 PM | Reply to this comment

Last week the couch potatoes that inhabit this web-site were all agog at Glasgow's wonderful victory over Bourgoin. That seems to have been forgotten now.

Glasgow will reveal themselves to be a REAL rugby team when they win, in succession, a few games that actually matter. Until that happens, all the under-performers, scroungers and hangers-on that you saw at Anniesland last night are being paid by the spectators who give excessive money to the SRU to attend Scotland matches at Murrayfield. You can be sure that the paltry few hundred that attend AND PAY at Glasgow Ws' matches won't finance a fraction of the cost of running the expensive failure and insovent business that is Glasgow Warriors.

Re-think, re-finance, re-engineer, re-staff. The current shambles is bust.

Posted by Wesiblo on January 28, 2006 11:40 PM | Reply to this comment

McDruid, once again you show your social inadequacies. Everyone is disappointed, but you take the opportunity to level unfounded insults at genuine fans. You are a very sad man.

Posted by McDruid on January 30, 2006 01:08 PM | Reply to this comment

Believe me, Wesiblo, I am a VERY sad man, grieving as I do over the state of Scottish rugby and the appalling decline orchestrated by Telfer and the wimps at the SRU who would not stand up to him.

Posted by The Pirate on January 29, 2006 08:27 AM | Reply to this comment

Obviously the back three have been told to run with blinkers on by the coaching staff. If this was an important game for Glasgow why is Parks not in the starting line up, he has the experience over Gregor and Six Nations has not started yet because the other Scotland players are still playing. Is he injured or does the coach want to get the axing with not picking the strongest side possible. Gotta Go Coach, we need positive people aroung the side....

Posted by stones on January 29, 2006 01:47 PM | Reply to this comment

I don't think Gregor deserves to be singled out. Ok, he had a poor game with the boot on Friday but that was only one factor in an all round dismal team performance. Colin's recent form was, in my opinion, justification for his starting spot and I assume Frank Hadden must have had some say in DP not being on the bench.

Ironic really, I overheard a gaggle of wee lads talking before the game about how Gregor was better than Parks because Glasgow always won when he played. Obviously been listening to bigger boys who post on message boards (not this one). No. 10s can never win!

Posted by Highlandbrave75 on January 29, 2006 11:36 PM | Reply to this comment

Playing strong sides...playing players out of position...leaving someone on the bench while playing another.

Don't people realise that the pro three head coaches work with the Scotland International coach and the reason's for inclusion, taking out, positional changes is all down to the international setup.

After all the pro three were set simply for one focus and one aim...a feed for the international setup.

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