Ospreys 20 - 26 Glasgow: Glasgow hold on to earn memorable win

WHILE Scotland may be struggling to combine performance with a victory, Glasgow managed to do both to show Scottish players can earn a difficult win even when down to 13 men at the end.

It was a crucial win in the RaboDirect Pro12 – their first ever at the Liberty Stadium – which kept them in the top four overnight and closed the gap on their second-placed hosts to just a couple of points.

However, it took some real spirit at the end as a comfortable position was jeopardised by two yellow cards, but Glasgow just managed to cling on after the gap was narrowed to a nervy six points.

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Their delighted coach Sean Lineen said: “That was fantastic – a great result against a quality team. I’m really proud of them. The defence was outstanding. Our line speed in defence was good and we stopped their dangerous runners and steppers from making ground. All we need to do now is keep on winning. There is a lot of belief in the squad and the players play really hard for each other.

“The play-off race is going to go right down to the wire and there are still seven teams in the hunt. It isn’t going to get any easier and we have a couple of big games coming up, including one against Aironi before the end of the Six Nations.”

Glasgow were in trouble early on, but man-of-the-match flanker Chris Fusaro got back to make a superb defensive tackle on Ospreys right wing Hanno Dirksen who had appeared to be clear.

Ruaridh Jackson put the visitors ahead with a penalty, but Dirksen – who scored a great solo try against Edinburgh two weeks ago – was once again a thorn in Scots’ side as he burst through weak tackling in the back line to turn a routine move into a try under the posts.

Jackson kicked accurately for a lineout in the corner and the driving maul went sideways more than forwards, but eventually Glasgow got enough momentum in the right direction for prop Jon Welsh to drop for the try. Normally news of a Welsh try would be cause for celebration at Ospreys, but not this one – which Jackson converted.

Centre Alex Dunbar then made a good break through the middle, home captain Tom Smith slowing the ball down from the ruck by reaching out a hand. Scottish referee Neil Paterson rightly handed out a yellow card and Jackson added the three points from under the posts.

Just before Smith came back, Glasgow were able to work No 8 Ryan Wilson clear on the right, Dunbar took the ball on and quick ruck possession allowed scrum half Henry Pyrgos to put wing Colin Shaw through beside the posts. Jackson converted to give Glasgow a 20-7 lead approaching half-time.

Dan Biggar landed a penalty from just inside the Glasgow half to make it 20-10 at the break, but still a satisfactory opening period for the Scots. Another Biggar penalty from near halfway showed that Glasgow could not rest on their laurels and needed to cut out any mistakes in their own half. It was an Ospreys mistake that allowed Glasgow to do just that, Fusaro regaining a quickly-taken tap penalty by Dirksen but being held up just short.

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The visitors ran out of steam in attack, but were able to come back to a penalty for offside which was easily slotted by Jackson. A mistake by Biggar, going for too much distance with a penalty kick to touch and going over the dead ball line, allowed Glasgow to put pressure back on the home side.

A Jackson kick and good follow-up by Lemi brought a lineout where home prop Ryan Bevington, released to play by the Wales squad, brought down Glasgow skipper Al Kellock, conceding the penalty and earning a yellow card.

Jackson slotted the kick to give his side some breathing space and they were soon back on the attack. Seymour thought he had scored, only for the Ospreys to get a penalty for obstruction. As the two sides squared up, Kellock was yellow-carded.

Glasgow were down to 13 men when replacement back rower Johnnie Beattie was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Dirksen. It was unfortunate, but probably the right decision.

The Ospreys understandably went for the corner and were back to full strength for the lineout with Bevington back. The rolling maul was predictable and effective, scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i finishing off. Dunbar got a crucial interception to keep the pressure off Glasgow for a couple of minutes and then Kellock returned as the pressure was building towards the end.

However, Glasgow were able to keep the play in the Ospreys half, even though it was the home side with the possession.

Scorers: Ospreys – Tries: Dirkson, Fotuali’l. Pens: Biggar (2). Cons: Biggar (2). Glasgow – Tries: Welsh, Shaw. Pens: Jackson (4). Cons: Jackson (2).

Ospreys: Jones; Dirkson, Bishop, Beck, Walker; Biggar, Webb; Bevington, Hibbard, Rees, Gough, King, Smith (c), Lewis, Bearman. Subs: Taylor (for Lewis 71), Jarvis (for Rees 53), Thomas (for King 46), Stowars (for Bearman 53), Fotuali’l (for Webb 63), Morgan (for Jones 66), Isaacs (for Bishop 60). Not used: Baldwin.

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Glasgow: Murchie; Lemi, Dunbar, Aramburu, Shaw; Jackson, Pyrgos; Grant, Hall, Welsh, Ryder, Kellock (c), Forrester, Fusaro, Wilson. Subs: MacArthur (for Hall 54), Reid (for Grant 54), Kalman (for Welsh 66), Verbakel (for Ryder 66), Harley (for Forrester (40), (for Wilson 66). Not used: Wight.