Glasgow Warriors 22, Cardiff Blues 3

Glasgow Warriors came good in the second half for a Magners League victory against Cardiff Blues this evening. Tries by Fergus Thomson, Kevin Tkachuk, and Sam Pinder lifted Glasgow from a tenuous interval lead to the eighth Hughenden victory in nine matches.

Victory eased Glasgow only one place up the league table to eighth. More important, though, the manner of winning proved that Warriors know how to make and take a result.

Throughout the contest it was Glasgow who looked the more eager for success. Their intentions were clearly stated in the first five minutes. Scott Barrow broke through in midfield, and Thom Evans, well established as a favourite of the fans in his first season, sprinted up the left touchline from deep inside his own half.

That thrust by Evans set up the position for Colin Gregor’s penalty goal in five minutes. He missed another soon afterwards, and that goal was to be the only score of the first half.

Glasgow, though, should have had more. Their forwards had a voracious appetite for hard action. John Barclay was most notable, not just as the midfield hammer off lineout, and Jon Petrie relished what was a rare appearance in the starting line-up. But Warriors’ handling let them down, and at times the weight of the pass seemed to be strangely misjudged – too heavy when all that was needed was the soft hands to deliver the ball to close support.

Warriors almost paid dearly for failing to take what they had made when Xavier Rush off the lineout tail created the means for Nick Macleod and Marc Stcherbina to slice up the middle. There Cardiff destroyed a Glasgow scrum, and Nick Robinson was wide with drop kick at goal.

All that served as a warning. Thomson tidied up loose lineout possession so efficiently that he provided for Andy Newman and Steve Swindall to restore the impetus, even if Glasgow could take nothing more before the interval.

Rush, regularly trying to set an example for Cardiff, had another go in the first minute of the second half, the New Zealander charging up the field from halfway before he was denied by Thom Evans in the home 22. Again Glasgow reacted to the warning, and this it was profitable. Hefin O’Hare made stride of ground on the right before Gregor jinked and drifted through tackles on the other flank before Barrow’s break laid on a try for the supporting Thomson. Gregor converted, and Glasgow led 10-0 after 43 minutes.

Tom James threatened for Cardiff with a chip and chase on the right. The wing was denied by Graeme Beveridge in the home 22, but from that assault Ben Blair kicked a penalty goal in 49 minutes.

Gregor had another penalty miss, but Glasgow were quick to exploit the sin-binning of Mark Lewis only a couple of minutes after he had joined the fray as a replacement on the hour. Immediately, Tkachuk exploded off a lineout maul 10 metres out to charge over for a try.

Gregor failed with the conversion from well out on the left, but Glasgow seemed to have gone to a comfortably lead when Pinder dived over from a sustained assault on the Cardiff line. The referee ruled a knock-on in the act of scoring, but with the aid of binoculars from the back row of the stand it wad clear that the replacement scrum half had grounded the ball before it squirted forward.

Pinder, though, was not to be denied. He finished off in 78 minutes after Evans had beaten four or five opponents with his waving mastery and pace on a mesmeric thrust almost to the line on the left. Gregor converted, but no time was left for what would have been a merited bonus-point try.
Between the Tkachuk and Pinder tries the Glasgow support had the pleasure of welcoming Donnie Macfadyen back after injury, albeit for only quarter of an hour’s rugby. It was the Scotland open-side flanker’s first appearance for more than three months

Glasgow Warriors – Rory Lamont; Colin Shaw, Hefin O'Hare, Scott Barrow, Thom Evans; Colin Gregor, Graeme Beveridge (captain); Kevin Tkachuk, Fergus Thomson, Justin Va'a, Andy Newman, Dan Turner, Steve Swindall, John Barclay, Jon Petrie. Substitutes – Moray Low for Va’a (52 minutes), Andrew Wilson for Swindall (52), Sam Pinder for Beveridge (59), Donnie Macfadyen for Barclay (69), James Eddie for Turner (72), Eric Milligan for Thomson (75), Va’a for Tkachuk (75). Not used – Sean Marsden.
Tries, Thomson, Tkachuk, Pinder; conversions, Gregor (2); penalty goal, Gregor.

Cardiff Blues – Ben Blair; Tom James, Marc Stcherbina, Nick Macleod, Mosese Luveitasau; Nicky Robinson, Ed Fairhurst; Taufaao Filise, Gareth Williams, Gary Powell, Deiniol Jones, Rob Sidoli, Ben White, Rhys Shellard, Xavier Rush (captain). Substitutes – Bradley Davies for Sidoli (59), Mark Lewis for Shellard (59), Scott Roberts for Filise (72). Not used – Duane Goodfield, Wayne Evans, Dai Flanagan, Dafydd Hewitt.

Referee – George Clancy (Ireland).

Attendance – 1562.

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This article was posted on 26-Jan-2007, 23:47 by Hugh Barrow.