DAVID FERGUSON AT HUGHENDEN

GLASGOW 19-14 CARDIFF

Referee: A McKay (Ire). Attendance: 3,787

GLASGOW brought a run of seven games without a win to an end last night with a tight, but deserved victory over Celtic League strugglers Cardiff.

Their hopes of pipping Edinburgh to the top Scottish qualifying spot for Europe, and competing in the end-of-season Celtic Cup, were also revived as this win keeps them just in the top eight, level with their Scots rivals, who play the Ospreys tonight. Ulster’s defeat of the Borders keeps them ahead of Glasgow on points difference, and the Scots still have Llanelli and Leinster left, but with the kind of spirit shown last night they are now in the mix.

After the disappointments of Scotland’s RBS Six Nations Championship, nearly 4,000 supporters clearly welcomed the return to domestic action and there was an unmistakable feeling that as the 2005/6 season heads towards its end, the summer could produce new hope for Scottish rugby.

Internationals Sean and Rory Lamont, and Andy Craig returned to the Glasgow back line for the match and while Lamont’s form makes more depressing the fact he is joining Northampton in June, that of his younger brother Rory - the new cap defending and counter-attacking with real conviction - ensured that he has perhaps left Glasgow supporters some form of compensation.

It was intriguing to watch two key figures, stand-off Calvin Howarth and Scott Lawson, the hooker, demonstrate why they are keeping Scottish caps Dan Parks and Gordon Bulloch on the bench with fine displays. Howarth varied his attack well in the first half, opening the scoring with an early penalty and testing the Cardiff rearguard with chips and high balls, and was only denied a try in the first quarter by a wicked bounce.

Nicky Robinson struck a neat drop-goal as the game edged into the second quarter, and though the hosts played with great vigour and momentum, regularly putting Cardiff under pressure on their own ball, they lacked the precision in contact and ball retention themselves to consistently threaten the Welsh side’s 22.

But after Howarth had slotted another penalty, and Robinson missed the first of three penalties, Sean Lamont took the wraps off his scintillating counter-attacking ability. He was fed the ball ten metres inside his own half and shrugged off a couple of tackles before sweeping into the Cardiff half. The Scots wing had Sam Pinder on his outside, drew the full-back and then slipped inside. He swapped passes with Howarth and, for a man of his power, had the easy task of diving through a tackle and over the line from five metres out. Howarth converted to open up a ten-point gap with just five minutes of the first half remaining and the Glasgow crowd was in full voice.

But the great continuity and passing out of the tackle with which they ended the half was left in the dressing room as Cardiff took a grip of possession in the third quarter. Robinson turned pressure into three points with a penalty, and though Glasgow responded with a fine counter-attack from Rory Lamont, good rucking, a sublime spin pass by Steve Swindall and powerful darting run by Graeme Morrison, they failed to make it count on the scoreboard and despite Robinson sending two penalties wide of the posts they still paid.

A Cardiff maul forced Glasgow onto their own line and Craig Quinnell, the veteran Welsh international who still puts himself about, pounced when the ball fell loose to touch down. Robinson continued his poor night, missing the conversion and with it the opportunity to tie the scores, and Nicky Macleod, the full-back, followed suit with an off-target penalty.

Graeme Beveridge replaced Pinder as the game moved into the final quarter, and with Swindall and Lawson providing stirring leads, both in defence and attack, Glasgow picked up. Andy Henderson came on for Barrow, and Dan Parks replaced Howarth, the instructions seeming to be to kick the hosts out of their own half in which they were becoming embedded.

It was a taught finish. A fine interception by Craig denied a likely Cardiff try and after a fine maul over halfway by Glasgow, Robert Sidoli was yellow-carded for persistent ruck offences by the visitors. Parks duly slotted the 43-metre penalty, stretching the hosts into a 16-11 lead with seven minutes remaining.

Roared on by the excellent home crowd, who gave tremendous cheers for Lawson when he was replaced by Bulloch, and a determined thrust by Henderson set up the match-winning points. Cardiff prop John Yapp was penalised at a ruck and Parks slotted another penalty, and though Cardiff’s Macleod added a late penalty, to grab a bonus point, and Dearlove was sin-binned for an innocuous offence, Glasgow held on for their first victory since before Christmas.

Scorers: Glasgow: Try: S Lamont. Pens: Howarth 2, Parks 2. Cons: Howarth. Cardiff: Try: Quinnell. Pens: Robinson, Macleod. Drop-goal: Robinson.

Glasgow: R Lamont; A Craig, G Morrison, S Barrow, S Lamont; C Howarth, S Pinder; K Tkachuk, S Lawson, E Murray, J Beardshaw, D Turner, S Swindall, P Dearlove, J Petrie (capt). Subs: J Beattie for Dearlove 9-21mins, G Beveridge for Pinder 60, A Henderson for Barrow 65, D Parks for Howarth 67, G Bulloch for Lawson 78, A Hall for Turner, B Prescott for Murray, both 80.

Cardiff: N Macleod; D Dewdney, T Shanklin, T Davies, C Morgan; N Robinson, R Powell; J Yapp, R Thomas, G Jenkins, C Quinnell, R Sidoli, R Sowden-Taylor, K Schubert, M Williams (capt). Subs: N Budgett for Sowden-Taylor 74mins, N Thomas for Schubert 78, B Evans for Yapp 80.

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This article was posted on 26-Mar-2005, 08:51 by Hugh Barrow.