Glasgow 9 Ospreys 6
Pen : Parks 3 Pen : Connor 2


Lineen's men overcome champions and conditions to get back on track


THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS

DAVID FERGUSON AT FIRHILL
Glasgow 9

Ospreys 6
Glasgow dig in for dogged victory

GLASGOW coach Sean Lineen demanded character from his side after a four-game run of defeats and they produced it to claim a hard-fought victory on one of the worst nights for rugby ever experienced at Firhill.

The match went ahead after an afternoon inspection and the pitch stood up fairly well, despite a few heavy patches of water, thanks largely to the great winds that blew across Firhill all afternoon. But it was a horrid night to try to play rugby in. The first quarter was a pretty good lesson from Glasgow in how to play the conditions, and with aggression and dynamism, but their failure to take any more than three points was their undoing.

There was a slight feeling of déjà vu for those of us who had witnessed something similar from Scotland in Dublin last weekend as, had the match followed the pattern of the first 20 minutes, this would have ended with a comfortable win for Glasgow.

They kept it tight, securing good lineout ball at the front and middle, drove it as much as they could with the Ospreys' blatant offside and other infringing tactics around the maul, much of which South African Test referee Jonathan Kaplan tended to ignore, and Dan Parks hoisted balls into the visitors' territory. Good breaks down the narrow side rolled the Ospreys back into their own 22, and darts by Moray Low, Lome Fa'atau and James Eddie brought the reward of a penalty in only the third minute, which Parks duly slotted.

They tried to repeat the feat in the seventh minute with more good, solid build-up work, but this time the hosts were penalised for holding on at a ruck inside the 22. The reigning champions' first attack of note ended with Glasgow turning their ball over in the home 22 and Parks effectively clearing to touch. Low then helped wheel an Ospreys scrum, Sam Pinder, the scrum-half, charged down a kick by Justin Marshall, the visitors' All Black scrum-half, and Donnie Macfadyen stole possession superbly in his first game back from injury as Ospreys found the going tough.

A highly debatable decision against skipper Alastair Kellock at a ruck handed the Ospreys a foothold in the game with a penalty, which Shaun Connor converted well from 32 metres and the stand-off was on target again just three minutes later when Low was the victim of another dubious refereeing decision – the prop was done for diving off his feet, but seemed to be crouched, but standing under Ospreys players.

The quick turnaround frustrated the hosts, summed up perhaps by Kellock and Alan Wyn-Jones, the Wales lock, enduring a prolonged bout of fighting on the ground after a lineout. Glasgow's grip of the game began to slip as their execution dipped. A quick lineout almost sent hooker Fergus Thomson away on the right, but his return pass from Andy Newman was forward, Fa'atau checked inside rather than take on Nikki Walker – the Scotland winger wearing the No 14 jersey but playing on the left wing – and Glasgow's threat fizzled out and the winger then knocked on after a fine Pinder dummy and break caught the Ospreys defence napping.

The hosts were running out of ideas in the crucial final third of the field, and were rather predictable when they needed that bit of creativity to turn excellent lead-up work into points, so went into the break three points down. Both sides came out of half-time eager to put pace on the ball. John Barclay had replaced Macfadyen in the home back row at the interval, but the hosts were dealt a blow when skipper Alastair Kellock was forced off with a leg injury just four minutes in, to be replaced by Dan Turner.

Parks missed a long-range penalty, unsurprising considering how the kickers were having to bend kicks into the wind, Glasgow struggled to find rhythm to their game, however, and more hands in the ruck earned them a warning and issued the Ospreys an invitation to their 22.

The Glasgow defence stood up, however, and aggressive work at the breakdown on a chase of a Parks' kick brought another long-range penalty chance, which the stand-off this time converted to level the scores with 27 minutes of the game remaining.

As expected, considering how the rain continued to lash the players, and the wind swirled vigorously around the stadium, the game became a real dogfight to the finish. Hefin O'Hare, on for Fa'atau on the right wing, brought some feverish excitement to the play and only good defending by Walker and Filo Tiatia denied him turning a Parks' crossfield kick into a try in the right-hand corner. From the next phase, the Ospreys managed to repel several darts for the line, but they were penalised for offside when Glasgow moved the attack wide left, which allowed Parks to curl the ball in between the sticks from just outside the 22.

With just seven minutes left on the clock it was a timely kick and lifted the decibels from the Firhill support another notch. It had become a game of mistakes and huge cheers of 'Glasgow, Glasgow' rang out when Connor knocked on. James Eddie, one of Glasgow's best performers on the night, continued to take the game to the Ospreys and Parks pinned the Ospreys back inside their own 22, ensuring the hosts finished the game effectively playing the conditions in the way they had at the start.

It had not seemed possible, but the rain grew heavier as the game neared its finish.

However, despite a nervy late lineout during a full seven minutes of injury-time, the Ospreys never came close to clawing even a draw from the game and the Firhill crowd showed their appreciation for their team's gutsy show with a rousing ovation when Kaplan's much-welcomed final whistle sounded.

Scorers: Glasgow: Pens - Parks 3. Ospreys: Pens - Connor 2.

Glasgow: B Stortoni; L Fa'atau, D Gibson, G Morrison, M Evans; D Parks, S Pinder; E Kalman, F Thomson, M Low, A Newman, A Kellock (capt), J Eddie, J Beattie, D Macfadyen. Subs: J Barclay for Macfadyen 40mins, D Turner for Kellock 44, H O'Hare for Fa'atau 62, S Barrow for Gibson 65, K Tkachuk for Kalman 71.

Ospreys: J Vaughton; N Walker, S Parker, J Spratt, M Taylor; S Connor, J Marshall; P James, R Hibbard, C Griffiths, A Wyn Jones, L Bateman, B Lewis, F Tiatia (capt), M Holah. Subs: A Lloyd for Bateman 58mins, A Millward for Griffiths 69, G Owen for Connor, A Brew for Taylor both 80.

Referee: J Kaplan (South Africa). Attendance: 2,058

This article was originally posted on 29-Feb-2008, 22:07 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 1-Mar-2008, 08:26.