Glasgow pay for attacking failures
DAVID FERGUSON AT FIRHILL
GLASGOW proved last night just how competitive they can be after taking a title-chasing Leinster side to the wire, but discovered that steely resilience is not enough on its own to secure victory.

The commitment shown, particularly by a clutch of young Scots in the home side, was what pleased Sean Lineen most, but Glasgow's head coach admitted that the lack of a great attacking threat remained his most pertinent problem.

He said: "I think that was the gutsiest performance from the guys since I took over, and I'm delighted that we showed that we can compete, but we know we didn't play much rugby and the guys' heads are down simply because we didn't do enough to win.

"But that is a good thing as well. Some of the youngsters - guys like Stuart Corsar, John Beattie, Fergus Thomson, James Eddie and Ben Prescott - are starting to come of age; Corsar would have run through a brick wall to score his try if one had been there."

While the coach admitted his frustration with the match officials for failing to spot forward passes in the lead up to Leinster tries, he also noted that the tries which pushed Leinster to the finish came from an interception and turned over lineout.

That was perhaps where Glasgow were shown up by a Leinster back division which featured five British and Irish Lions in total and Felipe Contepomi, Argentina's world-class playmaker. And yet had Dan Parks not missed a penalty and conversion, Glasgow would have won.

It had opened brightly for the Scots with the pack setting a lively pace, and Parks kicked a long-range penalty and though Contepomi levelled there was an urgency about Glasgow's attack.

The mood changed when Andy Henderson was sin-binned with 21 minutes gone, for pulling back Guy Easterby, the Leinster scrum-half, and from the subsequent penalty, Leinster drove the lineout, ending with Keith Gleeson, the openside flanker, diving over the try-line. Glasgow were still competing well in the set-piece but their attack lacked the crispness and ambition of their opponents', relying too heavily on Parks' boot, which invariably invited counter-attacks.

Leinster's second try, just eight minutes before the interval

owed everything to Brian O'Driscoll's direct running. His pass wide to Rob Kearney looked forward and the left wing also seemed to lose the ball over the line in the tackle from Colin Gregor, but referee Hugh Watkins deemed it good and Leinster were 12 points ahead.

The differing resources of the sides top and bottom of the Celtic League was highlighted at half-time when Leinster took off O'Driscoll and duly sent on Gordon D'Arcy, the 2005 Player of the Six Nations. Yet, it was Glasgow supporters toasting a centre just two minutes into the second half when Henderson intercepted a pass just inside the Leinster half, shook off the attentions of Kearney and sprinted in beside the posts, Parks converting.

Contepomi moved it back to eight with a second penalty, and Parks sent an effort wide before the Irishmen began to lift the tempo and force the hosts under a sustained spell of pressure. Glasgow defended manfully and even after losing Donnie Macfadyen to the sin-bin for handling in a ruck a fine attack-ending tackle on Contepomi by Fergus Thomson and Henderson typified the bristling, collective effort.

Gregor almost broke Leinster with his inimitable eye for a chance, but, agonisingly, Hickie, the last defender, got his fingertips to Gregor's chip and the danger was cleared. Still, Glasgow battled on, however, and Parks and Contepomi traded penalties as the tension rose.

Malcolm O'Kelly stole a Glasgow lineout 15 metres inside Leinster's half, but Stuart Corsar, the home side's replacement prop, was first to the loose ball and he flew at the covering defence, burst through two players and dragged another couple over the line with him for a tremendous try.

Parks' conversion drifted wide, but with Firhill resounding to chants of 'Glasgow, Glasgow', the hosts, with another substitute, Graeme Morrison, to the fore, stepped up the pressure. Gregor, who shone despite a rare appearance at scrum-half, carved Leinster open again, but was hit with a bad shoulder tackle by Contepomi which ineffectual referee Watkins ignored.

The final whistle soon followed and though the home players trudged off the field wearily, their securing of a bonus point keeps alive their fight with the Borders for the second Heineken Cup.

Scorers: Glasgow: Tries: Henderson, Corsar. Pens: Parks 2. Con: Parks. Leinster: Tries: Gleeson, Kearney. Pens: Contepomi 3. Con: Contepomi.

Glasgow: C Shaw; S Davey, H O'Hare, A Henderson, R Lamont; D Parks, C Gregor; K Tkachuk, F Thomson, B Prescott, J Eddie, D Turner, A Wilson, J Beattie, D Macfadyen (capt). Subs: C Hamilton for Turner, J Barclay for Wilson, both 60mins, S Corsar for Prescott 66, G Morrison for O'Hare 71.

Leinster: G Dempsey; R Kearney, B O'Driscoll (capt), S Horgan, D Hickie; F Contepomi, G Easterby; R Corrigan, B Jackman, E Byrne, A Byrnes, M O'Kelly, E Miller, J Heaslip, K Gleeson. Subs: G D'Arcy for O'Driscoll 40mins, Blaney for Byrne 62, R McCormack for Corrigan 66, B Gissing for Byrnes 68.

Referee: H Watkins (Wales). Attendance: 1,129

This article was posted on 8-May-2006, 06:01 by Hugh Barrow.