Duncan Weir struck with a penalty to draw level
Glasgow Warriors earned a draw in Montpellier that keeps their Heineken Cup hopes alive.
After a tense first 30 minutes Yoan Audrin broke the impasse and Ilian Perraux converted to give Montpellier a 7-0 lead at the turnaround.
Ruaridh Jackson's penalty was countered by two from Perraux as the French side stretched their lead.
Rory Lamont's converted try gave Glasgow hope and Duncan Weir kicked the visitors level but Francois Trinh-Duc's miss in added time ensured a draw.
Warriors move onto 10 points, while Montpellier now have six, with Leinster hosting Bath later on Saturday.
Montpellier made the early running, but the Glasgow defence held up well to keep the hosts at bay, with Richie Gray stealing possession at a crucial moment to break up one attack.
The visitors won a penalty near halfway and Jackson dragged his attempt wide in the 14th minute.
Perraux was also unsuccessful with Montpellier's first penalty, falling short and bouncing under the bar.
With half an hour played and still no scoring, the Warriors lost Chris Fusaro to a contact injury and Ryan Wilson was introduced.
Glasgow's resistence was finally broken when Montpellier stretched the Scottish defence with several phases and Audrin ran in to touch down in the right-hand corner before Perraux converted.
Jackson kicked the visitors' first points with a penalty in the opening minutes of the second half, but that was quickly cancelled out by Perraux and the fly-half soon kicked another.
Perraux's next attempt, from wide on the right, was off target.
The Warriors tried to take advantage, but their attempts to squeeze the ball over the line after some forceful phases were thwarted.
However, Maximiliano Bustos's tackle on Chris Cusiter was punished with a yellow card and, from the scrum, Glasgow capitalised.
Jackson's replacement, Weir, slipped the ball left to Lamont, who ran in his first try since rejoining Sean Lineen's side. Weir converted.
A chance to level was passed up when Weir's penalty skewed wide, but Glasgow were growing in confidence and Weir atoned for that miss after Montpellier collapsed a scrum.
The hosts pressed for a winning score and an offside by Glasgow gave substitute Trinh-Duc a chance to win the match in added time.
But the World Cup finalist's effort was wide of the right-hand post.
Forwards coach Shade Munro said: "When their kicker was coming up to take that final shot at goal to win the game we were trying to look at the replay to see who had given away the penalty.
"Then we noticed he was taking his time and we wondered what was going to happen.
"He was a right footed kicker and it was on his wrong side, but it was only on the 15 metre line. Ordinarily we would have expected him to kick it, even though we were willing him to miss.
"Thankfully, he lost it, missed and we got a draw. Even though that was a bit of a let off we are all disappointed not to have won.
"We started badly, but came back strongly. We felt we could have won the game, but we still think we are in the mix in terms of qualification."
Glasgow next face reigning Heineken Cup champions and runaway group leaders Leinster and Shade Insists his side can still make the quarter-finals.
"If this game was supposed to be the biggest game in the history of Glasgow Warriors, then the round 5 fixture against Leinster is bound to be because we will have to beat the European champions to stand any chance of winning the Pool," added Shade.
"We've already beaten them in the league this season, and have upset them at "Fortress Firhill" in the past, so we have to believe we can do it again."

This article was posted on 18-Dec-2011, 13:44 by Hugh Barrow.