Glasgow 24 - 19 Dragons: Weir kicks way into record books as Warriors put Dragons to sword

THE prize of back-to-back victories in the PRO12 League and a first home win of the season was gratefully seized by Glasgow last night as they edged out the Dragons in a dour but compelling encounter.

Duncan Weir, fresh from renewing his contract with the club, notched up eight straight penalties in a flawless kicking performance that set a new record for the league.

On paper, the match was finely balanced with both teams having played five, won two, lost three with only the four-try bonus point Glasgow gained in Cardiff translating into a single point advantage in the table. The last head to head back in February ended in a 16-16 draw.

And that was how it turned out on the pitch, with the Dragons’ early try and stubborn resistance ensuring a nervous night for the crowd but, ultimately, the Warriors were good value for the win.

The teams spent the first five minutes testing each other out with a few long kicks and speculative runs into tackles that didn’t budge an inch until a Dragon hand was found in a ruck and stand-off Weir knocked over the first of his series of penalties.

Almost immediately Glasgow were hit by a Welsh sucker punch as the visitors won the ball back at the restart and threw it wide to galloping full-back Martyn Thomas on the right wing for a simple run in to touch down. Fly-half Matthew Jones converted, and added another three points from a penalty a few minutes later.

Weir steadied the home ship with his second penalty from 40 metres and Glasgow almost broke through when a fortuitous off-load created an opening that the Dragons swiftly closed but Weir split the posts for a third time in succession to move within a point.

The Dragons stayed stubbornly in Glasgow territory and stretched away again as Jones added a second penalty, and almost a third that just curled the wrong side of the post.

Glasgow finally got into the opposition half and when the Dragons blatantly killed the ball in a ruck on the 10 metre line, scrum-half Colin Gregor took a quick tap and ran through the dithering bodies to within a few metres of the line only to be penalised for holding on before his back row could get to him.

All the momentum Glasgow had built up came to a shuddering halt as Weir put up a towering up and under from just inside his own half. It was fielded well by Thomas and as he went down in the tackle, the Glasgow pack were declared offside. Jones’ penalty flew over from 45 metres.

Glasgow just didn’t have the same fluency and were racking up a high error count. It was a Welsh error, however, that led to the next score as a couple of players were caught offside at Jones’ next high kick and Weir punished them with his fourth penalty of the night to make it 12-16 right on half-time.

Johnnie Beattie didn’t return from the dressing room and Ryan Wilson replaced him at No 8 while Pat McArthur took over at hooker from Finlay Gillies. Three minutes into the second 40 Weir kicked his fifth penalty to get the Warriors back to within a point.

Glasgow had suddenly discovered the fluency they lacked earlier and big lock Rob Verbakel, a New Zealander on his debut, put his head down and battered through several tackles to reach the danger zone. From there Glasgow were unfortunate not to accrue more points as the referee played a penalty advantage and allowed the move to continue back and forward in front of the posts for almost three minutes before reversing it and penalising Glasgow for holding on in the tackle and the Dragons were able to relieve the pressure.

But Glasgow came straight back to harry them, and Weir’s sixth penalty put the home side ahead for only the second time in the match. The Dragons still posed a threat as the game went into the final quarter although it was the Welshman making the majority of the mistakes. Weir landed a seventh penalty to open up a five-point gap with 15 minutes to go.

There was still work to do when Jason Tovey, the replacement stand-off for the Dragons, kicked his first and his side’s fourth penalty to cut the deficit but Weir restored it to five points moments later with his eighth successful kick.

Glasgow nicked a lineout to show they were in command and began to dictate terms at every breakdown. They had the measure of the Dragons as the clock ran down and were careful to leave no holes in the defensive tackle line that suffered a few frantic moments as they soaked up the Dragons’ final desperate surge.

Scorers: Glasgow – Pens: Weir (8). Dragons – Try: Thomas. Con: M Jones. Pens: M Jones 3, Tovey.

Glasgow: S Hogg; T Seymour, R Dewey, T Nathan, C Shaw; D Weir, C Gregor; R Grant, F Gillies, M Cusack, T Ryder, R Verbakel, R Harley, C Fusaro, J Beattie. Subs used: P McArthur for Gillies 40, E Kalman for Cusack 52, J Eddie for Verbakel 63, R Wilson for Beattie 40, A Dunbar for Dewey 68, P Horne for Nathan 52.

Dragons: M Thomas; T Chavhanga, T Riley, L Robling, M Poole; M Jones, W Evans; P Price, T Willis, N Buck, A Jones, R Sidoli, J Groves, G Thomas, A Coombs. Subs used: N Williams for Price 66, K Jenkins for Buck 75, L Evans for Groves 54, J Bedford for Evans 66, G O’Driscoll for Poole 72, J Tovey for Jones 50.