SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY REPORTS

Newport Gwent Dragons 32 Glasgow 22: 'Appalling' display sees Lineen




By Graham Clutton
at Rodney Parade
GLASGOW Warriors coach Sean Lineen pulled no punches as he assessed 'an appalling' performance from his side yesterday.
The Warriors were 10-0 up at one stage against Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade in Wales and, as Kiwi Lineen knows, to progress to the knock-out stages of the competition requires a win on the road somewhere along the line.

Now one of those ADVERTISEMENTwill have to come at either Toulouse, the crack French outfit who are Heineken Cup veterans, or in-form English side Bath.

There are bound to be a few harsh words next week in the lead-up to the home tie against Toulouse and the coach said the players can expect just as much.

He said: "We were never there. That is the top and bottom of it. The Dragons took their tries well and it was the same against Connacht in the domestic league. We took our foot off the gas when we were up 10-0 away from home.

"Then they (Connacht) got back into the game and scored four soft tries. That was, individually, an appalling performance from each and every one of them and I think they have to take a long, hard look at themselves this week.

"We have to come back fighting against Toulouse. It was a really opportunity down here and we didn't do it."

Lineen admitted that beating the Dragons would have given his side a real foothold in their group which is one of the hardest of the season, but to come away without even a losing bonus point when they were actually in shape to win the match as it drew to a close was a double blow.

The coach added: "We beat these a couple of times before. To be up 10-0 and then to back off, which is what happened, is not on."

It did not help Glasgow's cause either that flanker Kelly Brown was sin-binned just before half-time due to a ruck infringement which then saw the Dragons take control where they had been 10-6 behind and looking to go into the break down.

Wing Lome Fa'atau claimed a 95 metre interception try for the Warriors inside the first five minutes of the match as the Dragons pressed for the opening score.

And, without the influential Dan Parks at stand-off due to a knee injury that forced him out before kick-off, No.10 Colin Gregor landed a penalty to gain that 10-points advantage.

But two penalties from the Dragons' fly-half James Arlidge, one of their summer imports from New Zealand, brought them back to within a try of taking the lead.

And, when Brown committed his offence, a sweeping movement that sucked in a lot of the Glasgow cover saw wing Gareth Wyatt plough over in the corner.

It did not help either that Glasgow made a lot of errors including one where Fa'atau dropped the ball when catching it and running 10 metres to the line would have brought him a second try.

A 30-metre drop goal from Arlidge sent the Dragons into a 14-10 lead.

Lineen added: "Kelly Brown has got to hold his hands up because it is not good enough. We always get a yellow card down here. The forwards got beasted and the starting 15 to a man were not good enough.

"It did not look like a Heineken Cup performance and we missed a fantastic opportunity. We missed Dan Parks, there is no doubt about it."

While Brown was still warming the bench after the break, Arlidge further increased the Dragons lead with a penalty in front of the posts.

Glasgow would not give in, though, and levelled the match at 17-17 when centre Max Evans went in at the corner and Gregor landed a brilliant long-range conversion.

The relief was short-lived, though, as Wyatt squeezed in at the corner for his second try and Charvis gave them a 10-point lead with a third try.

However, Glasgow would not lay down as captain Alastair Kellock drove over from 10 metres to make it 29-22 and, as the changes came off both benches, the Warriors ramped up a gear.

They were frustrated, though, as Arlidge booted a second drop-goal to restore the Dragons' 10-point advantage and handling errors let Glasgow down too many times towards the final whistle.

Now it is down to beating the best sides in the group which will be no easy task for Lineen and his men.

For the Dragons, though, they will travel to Bath with a bit of confidence and their coach Paul Turner admitted: "We did well out there against a decent Glasgow team who beat us earlier in the season.

"We needed to win this because we need to win our home games in this competition so to do that, although it would have been better if we had the bonus point, was pretty satisfying."

Dragons: Dolman; Wyatt, Sidey (Smith 73), Stcherbina, Fussell; Arlidge, W. Evans; Black (Coundley 76), Willis, R. Thomas, A. Jones, Charteris (Hall 71), Bearman, Charvis, L. Evans (Webb 73).

Glasgow: Stortoni,; Faatau, M. Evans, Morrison (Henderson 73), O'Hare; Gregor, McMillan (Jackson 58); Va'a (Tckachuk 58), Hall, Low (Kalman 40), Palepoi (Barker 40), Kellock, Brown (Swindall 63), Barclay, Beattie.

Scorers: Dragons – Tries: Wyatt 2, Charvis. Cons: Arlidge. Pens: Arlidge 3. Drop goals: Arlidge 2. Glasgow – Tries: Faatau, M. Evans, Kellock. Cons: Gregor 2. Pens: Gregor.

Referee: R Poite (France).

This article was posted on 12-Oct-2008, 13:36 by Hugh Barrow.