Glasgow Warriors bagged an impressive 26-20 victory over Celtic League leaders Munster this afternoon in Limerick - the second time they've beaten the top Irish outfit this season.
A second half scoring flurry from stand off Colin Gregor pulled the Warriors ahead but late pressure from Munster lead to a nail biting finale with Glasgow reduced to 14 men.
Munster, featuring a number of Ireland internationalists such as Anthony Foley and British & Irish Lion Donncha O’Callaghan, had only lost one of their last 25 home matches and started the game strongly with Captain Foley, who yesterday had been named as Limerick Person of the Year, claiming the first points on the board. Stephen Keogh collected from the lineout as the Irish forwards drove towards the Warriors line but the usually reliable boot of Mossie Lawlor was off target with the conversion.
Only a few minutes later, Glasgow scrum half Sam Pinder, who made early indications in the game that his strong wily running was going to cause problems for the Munster defence, took advantage of the overlap and darted through the gaps to cross the line equaling the score. Warriors stand off Colin Gregor had more success with his first kick that his counterpart and slotted the conversion. He was next on the board too when Munster were penalized for being offside and from in front of the posts knocked over the penalty to extend Glasgow’s lead.
It was an all action end to end match with both sides seeking to play an expansive game but in doing so, the ball was turned over too many times and, particularly in the case of Munster, passes went astry during crucial attacks.
It all worked out for them though when lock forward Donncha O’Callaghan, who had a very strong game, made in roads and the Munster forwards’ multiple drives put sustained pressure on the Glasgow line. After several attempts, back row forward Stephen Keoghty eventually bagged the try but again, Lawlor’s conversion was off target.
With only five minutes to go until half time the majority of the crowd could have been forgiven for thinking that both sides were going to go into the break all-square on 10 points each but there was still plenty of action to come from both sides.
Colin Gregor put Glasgow ahead again when Munster were penalized for not rolling away at the tackle but the Munster forwards struck back with more familiar driving as stand off Lawlor passed the ball out wide to youngster Barry Murphy who after a searing break passed to John Kelly who ran a perfect line leading to Anthony Horgan running in another try. Lawlor was on target this time, taking the Irish team into the break with a 17-13 lead.

The turnaround in the match came just after half time when Glasgow Stand off Colin Gregor set off on a one-man-show, scoring 13 points within six minutes through a try, conversion and two penalties, ably assisted by his half back partner Sam Pinder – between them causing the Munster defence to creak.

With a flurry of subs from both sides, one more Lawlor penalty for Munster and a sin-binning for Glasgow winger Mike Roberts for a high tackle on Trevor Halstead, Munster launched an assault on the Glasgow line throughout the last 10 minutes of the game but the Warriors battled until the end, keeping the Irish out in a tense closing period but eventually ending up 20-26 victors for some much needed League points.




SCORING SEQUENCE
5 – 0: Anthony Foley try (4 mins)
5 – 5: Sam Pinder try (7 mins)
5 – 7: Colin Gregor conversion (7 mins)
5 - 10: Colin Gregor penalty (13 mins)
10 – 10: Stephen Keogh try (31 mins)
10 – 13: Colin Gregor penalty (40 mins)
15 – 13: Anthony Horgan try (40 mins)
17 – 13: Mossie Lawlor conversion (40 mins)
HALF TIME
Glasgow sub: Scott Lawson for Fergus Thomson (41 mins)
17 – 16: Colin Gregor pen (44 mins)
17 – 21: Colin Gregor try (47 mins)
17 – 23: Colin Gregor coversion (47 mins)
17 – 26: Colin Gregor penalty (51 mins)
Munster sub: John O’Sullivan for Johnny O’Conner (52 mins)
Glasgow sub: James Eddie for Gregor Hayter (60 mins)
Glasgow sub: Graydon Staniforth for Spencer Davey (67 mins)
Glasgow sub: Lee Harrison for Euan Murray (72 mins)
20 – 26: Mossie Lawlor penalty (72 mins)
Munster sub: Gary Connolly for Trevor Halstead (80 mins)



WARRIORS
1 - Kevin Tkachuk, 2 - Fergus Thomson, 3 - Euan Murray, 4 - Dan Turner, 5 - Craig Hamilton, 6 - Steve Swindall, 7 - Jon Petrie (captain), 8 - Gregor Hayter, 9 - Sam Pinder, 10 - Colin Gregor, 11 - Mike Roberts, 12 - Spencer Davey, 13 - Graeme Morrison, 14 - Hefin O'Hare, 15 - Rory Lamont
Replacements: 16 - Lee Harrison, 17 - Scott Lawson, 18 - James Eddie, 19 - Stuart Corsar, 20 - Iain Monaghan, 21 - Iain Kennedy, 22 - Graydon Staniforth,

MUNSTER
1 - Frankie Roche, 2 - Denis Fogarty, 3 - Federico Pucciariello, 4 - Donncha O'Callaghan, 5 - Mick O'Driscoll, 6 - Stephen Keogh, 7 - Johnny O'Connor, 8 - Anthony Foley (captain), 9 - Tomas O'Leary, 10 - Mossie Lawlor, 11 - Anthony Horgan, 12 - Trevor Halstead, 13 - Barry Murphy, 14 - John Kelly, 15 - Shaun Payne
Replacements: 16 – Eugene McGovern, 17 – Damien Varley, 18 - Trevor Hogan, 19 - John O'Sullivan, 20 - Mike Prendergast, 21 - Barry Keeshan, 22 - Gary Connolly,

MAN OF THE MATCH: JOHN KELLY
Att: 5000

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU). Touch Judges: Alistair McKay (IRFU), John Carvill (IRFU).


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This article was posted on 18-Feb-2006, 18:31 by Hugh Barrow.