LEINSTER 38-3 WARRIORS
Friday, 06 May 2011


Glasgow ended a turbulent season in defeat today as Heineken Cup finalists Leinster – who are also chasing a home semi-final spot – ran in victors by four-tries to nil.

Glasgow made all the right noises in the opening 40minutes, holding the hosts to 6-3. But the second half saw the tries pour in as they chased that all-important home semi-final fixture.

Shane Horgan and Gordon D’Arcy struck whilst Peter Murchie was serving time in the sin bin, before Dominic Ryan and Kevin McLaughlin followed suit in the final period of the game.

Winger and Man of the Match Fergus McFadden added four penalties and two conversions from the boot.

Glasgow’s only score came from a Duncan Weir penalty in the sixth minute of the match.

The Warriors enjoyed the best of the early territory with Chris Cusiter continuing his recovery by working his pack through the phases and they were rewarded with a long range penalty from Weir.

Another early positive was the immediate impact from 18-year-old debutant centre Mark Bennett was certainly not overawed, bursting through the Leinster defence in the 13th minute.

But despite Glasgow’s positivity in taking the game to Leinster, lock Tom Ryder conceded a penalty for killing the ball and McFadden nudged over a simple penalty.

Weir was off target with a monster attempt on the half hour mark and Glasgow soon had a narrow escape when Horgan looked to have scored in the right corner.

The Leinster winger, having linked with Nacewa, avoided an initial challenge from DTH van der Merwe, but Television Match Official Peter Ferguson ruled that he had a foot in touch when grounding the ball.

Leinster gained some consolation in the form of a 35 metre penalty from McFadden and Weir, with the last kick of the half, was narrowly wide from a difficult position to the right of the posts.

Half-time score: Leinster 6-3 Warriors

In the opening minutes of the second half, Leinster edged further in front as Johnnie Beattie was penalised for holding on after trying to break from a scrum, allowing McFadden to slot his third penalty.

Then came the game's turning point when Glasgow full-back Peter Murchie was sin-binned for coming in on the wrong side of a ruck. During his time off the pitch, Leinster scored 15 points.

McFadden kicked his third penalty and shortly afterwards, Ian Madigan's high kick to the right was swallowed up by Horgan who managed to scramble over the line past van der Merwe. This time, the TMO handed him the points.

McFadden added the extras to D'Arcy's 58th-minute score, following a powerful burst from stand-in captain Jamie Heaslip. Glasgow stayed competitive, but Leinster had more in the tank.

Replacement David Kearney delighted the home crowd with two solo runs. His first attack almost led to a try for Heaslip. The second did, Ryan pouncing on a loose ball that Glasgow failed to deal with.

McFadden converted and did likewise after McLaughlin stormed through a couple of tackles and stretched over for Leinster's bonus point try.

Fulltime score: Leinster 38-3 Warriors

Leinster: Isa Nacewa; Shane Horgan, Eoin O'Malley, Gordon D'Arcy, Fergus McFadden; Ian Madigan, Isaac Boss; Jack McGrath, Richardt Strauss, Stan Wright, Kevin McLaughlin, Devin Toner, Dominic Ryan, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip CAPTAIN
Substitutes: Aaron Dundon, Cian Healy, Mike Ross, Nathan Hines, Rhys Ruddock, Paul O'Donohoe, Ian McKinley, David Kearney

Glasgow Warriors: Peter Murchie; Federico Aramburu, Mark Bennett*, Graeme Morrison CAPTAIN, DTH van der Merwe; Duncan Weir, Chris Cusiter; Ryan Grant, Fergus Thomson, Moray Low, Aly Muldowney, Tom Ryder, James Eddie, Richie Vernon, Johnnie Beattie
Substitutes: Dougie Hall, Jon Welsh, Kevin Tkachuk, Robert Harley, Chris Fusaro, Colin Gregor, Ruaridh Jackson, Peter Horne
 

This article was originally posted on 6-May-2011, 20:24 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 6-May-2011, 22:12.