THE HERALD REPORTS

Glasgow Warriors 16 - 18 Newport GwentKEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer January 05 2008
Sean Lineen, the Warriors head coach, says he could return to the transfer market if his players fail to improve their performances after a third successive Magners League defeat threatened to throw their season into disarray at Firhill last night.

It was their first loss in Glasgow since the corresponding weekend last year but it was the way that proud home record was thrown away that upset Lineen.

"What respect we had been building up has gone," he said bluntly. I am worried about the shortage of tries and we lacked a bit of punch, but the main thing is that the skill level is appalling.

advertisement"These guys are professional rugby players and at the moment passing and catching seems to be beyond some of them. Poor decisions and our skill level doesn't match our ambition.

"We've got to do something, whether it's bringing in new people or what."

The coach paid tribute to the Dragons, noting that with a small squad they had done well to make this trip for their third Magners League match in nine days to maintain their record as the Warriors bogey side with their eighth victory over them in nine matches.

"The Dragons boys are absolutely ecstatic and it's a great win for them, but they know how to play against us and that's by not playing. They did nothing to win the game, we just gave it to them."

The Dragons forwards had the upper hand as rain swept across the ground early on and it looked as if the home side had weathered the storm, both literally and metaphorically, when, with conditions easing, Parks knocked over his second penalty. But the momentum swung with the first try. Wide on the right a penalty was quickly taken and the ball shifted infield to Joe Bearman who brushed Fergus Thomson aside in charging to the line close to the posts, Ceri Sweeney converting to put his side ahead.

Dragons' lead was extended when Sweeney knocked over a penalty after Scott Barrow was penalised for handling the ball at a ruck in front of his own posts.

It was clear that the Warriors needed to up their effort as the second half got under way and they made a promising start, Scott Barrow, Bernie Stortoni and Sam Pinder all making inroads with a series of half breaks. Barrow then managed to release Colin Shaw into space on the right, but James Eddie was bundled into touch after providing support.

Johnny Barclay then looked to have made the telling breakthrough when he got clear inside the 22 and committed Kevin Morgan before putting the ball out, but with an overlap looming, Stortoni knocked on.

In spite of having dominated the early part of the second half, Glasgow then found themselves further behind when Sweeney knocked over his second penalty. That made it time to send for the cavalry as internationalists Al Kellock, the club captain, John Beattie and Kevin Tkachuk took the field, but they were lucky not to fall further behind when Sweeney was given another penalty chance which he sliced wide.

It was Canadian Tkachuk, making his first appearance of the season after breaking his leg ahead of the World Cup, who made the first telling impact, charging deep into the opposition 22. The ball was kept alive through a couple of phases and when it emerged once more from a ruck at close range, Pinder did what he does best, showing the dummy then darting over unstoppably for a try Parks converted to level the scores.

They were still a long way from playing well, though, and were right back in trouble when Sweeney's searching kick forced Stortoni into finding touch conservatively. The Dragons pack set up the maul and this time forced their way over for Peter Sidoli to score an unconverted try.

On a night of far too many penalties, the referee finally lost patience when he sin-binned Paul Emerick for killing the ball and Parks knocked the ball over when his side was awarded yet another soon after to reduce the leeway to two points.

It looked like Darryl Gibson's opportunism was going to grab the win when he reacted first as the ball squeezed out of a Dragons 22 and hacked the ball deep into their 22, but the officials somehow failed to notice as he was blatantly obstructed when hot in pursuit and favourite to get there first.

Beattie then spurned an overlap on the right as he went for the try that would have snatched the win before, with time running out, Parks attempted a snap drop goal, but it slid past the right post and for all their efforts during a frantic finish, the Warriors lacked the composure to snatch the win.


Glasgow B Stortoni; C Shaw, D Gibson, S Barrow (C Gregor 73), H O'Hare; D Parks, S Pinder (M Adamson 80); J Va'a (K Tkachuk 52), F Thomson, M Low, A Newman (A Kellock 52), D Turner, J Eddie (J Beattie 52), J Barclay, K Brown.

Dragons K Morgan; R Fussell, P Emerick, A Smith, R Mustoe; C Sweeney, A Williams; A Black, B Daly, R Thomas (H Gustafson 40), A Hall, A Jones (P Sidoli 59), J Bearman, C Charvis, M Owen
Referee D Keane (Ireland)

This article was posted on 5-Jan-2008, 08:44 by Hugh Barrow.