It wasn't quite a Christmas cracker but Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh served up decent festive fare in difficult conditions in the first leg of the 1872 Cup at Scotstoun and it was the hosts who were ho-ho-hoing at full time. They will take a 22-10 lead into the second leg at Murrayfield on December 30 after they outscored their oldest rivals by three tries to one for a deserved victory which moves them to the top of the United Rugby Championship table.

Ali Price played the role of pantomime villain on his return to Scotstoun in Edinburgh colours and was booed by the home fans whenever he got the ball, although there was also some applause when he was replaced in the second half. It was an ultimately disappointing night for the men from the east who conceded two tries in seven second-half minutes while their captain, Grant Gilchrist, was in the sin-bin. The rain never stopped but the home side mastered the conditions better and Josh McKay was involved in all their best attacking moments.

The first half was fairly even, with Edinburgh perhaps just shading it. WP Nel had given them hope with a try just before the interval, cancelling out Kyle Rowe’s early score. But the second half belonged to Glasgow, with Johnny Matthews and Ally Miller landed the decisive scores.

Glasgow Warriors' Stafford McDowall (L) and Sione Tuipulotu celebrate Johnny Matthews try during the win over Edinburgh.

Ross Thompson got the ball rolling with a penalty from inside the Edinburgh 22 after Jamie Ritchie failed to release in contact, and it was an early indicator of Glasgow’s mindset. Usually they kick for the corner in these situations but perhaps mindful of how close the game was likely to be, they took the points.

Edinburgh enjoyed their fair share of possession and territory in the first quarter but they twice conceded scrum penalties on their own put-in and fell eight points behind in the 17th minute. A lineout 30 metres out offered Glasgow a solid attacking platform and they worked a wraparound to take them up to the Edinburgh line. Huw Jones moved it smartly off the base of the ruck and it went through the hands of Thompson and on to McKay who found Rowe with an over-arm pass, drawing Wes Goosen so the Warriors winger could score in the corner. Thompson was just wide with the conversion attempt.

The inter-city derbies are often cast up as unofficial international trials ahead of the Six Nations and they can be a useful sounding board for Gregor Townsend. But the Scotland coach must have been watching through the cracks in his fingers at times, especially when George Turner went off with a shoulder injury after 29 minutes. Townsend has already lost Ollie Smith for the Six Nations and has concerns over Jack Dempsey and Javan Sebastian, so will be hoping his first choice hooker is not too badly hurt.

Matthews, the URC’s top try-scorer, replaced Turner and almost immediately handed Edinburgh a way back into the match. He was ruled offside as Glasgow defended close to their own line and the visitors chose to run it, the freshly shorn Pierre Schoeman taking the tap penalty. The home side defended desperately but they couldn’t hold out and Nel just managed to ground the ball on the Glasgow line. Healy landed the conversion to reduce the lead to a single point and then tried his luck with a penalty from halfway but was off target.

WP Nel crossed the whitewash for the visitors.

There’s always a bit of edge to these games and Rowe found himself nudged to the ground by Hamish Watson just before half-time which caused a bit of consternation among the home fans.

Edinburgh took off where they left off and moved into the lead at the start of the second half. Duhan van der Merwe had looked threatening in the early skirmishes and Healy was continuing to exert his considerable influence. The stand-off tried to open up Glasgow with a delicate chip through but it was just too long. Play came back for an earlier infringement by Vailanu and Healy knocked over the points to make it 10-8 to the visitors.

Glasgow needed a way back in and they made their intentions clear by kicking a sequence of penalties to the corner. Unlike in the first few minutes of the game when they were happy to take the points, the Warriors were now after a try. Edinburgh repelled the first few waves but Glasgow kept coming and their opponents resorted to illegal means to stop them. Sam Grove-White was unimpressed and sent Edinburgh skipper Grant Gilchrist to the sin-bin, much to the delight of the home fans. They were even more pleased when Glasgow finally got the try their pressure deserved from the next play. It was the old lineout move again, Greg Peterson catching cleanly to set up the maul and Matthews getting on the end of things for his ninth try of the season. Horne converted expertly from out wide to put the Warriors 15-10 ahead.

It was one-way traffic now and Glasgow again punished their 14-man opponents. Ally Miller, who scored the first try of his Warriors career last week, repeated the trick after another fine move and it must have been all the sweeter for the former Scotland sevens man because he had been let go by Edinburgh. Horne converted. Glasgow continued to push for the bonus-point try but it never came and they will take a 12-point advantage into next Saturday’s second leg at Murrayfield.

Glasgow Warriors scorers: Tries: Rowe, Matthews, Miller. Cons: Horne 2. Pens: Thompson. Edinburgh scorers: Tries: Nel. Cons: Healy. Pens: Healy. Yellow card: Gilchrist (Edinburgh, 64min)

Glasgow Warriors: J McKay; H Jones, S Tuipulotu (c), S McDowall, K Rowe (B Afshar 70); R Thompson (T Jordan 58), G Horne; J Bhatti (N McBeth 58), G Turner (J Matthews 29), Z Fagerson (O Kebble 58), S Cummings (M Williamson 79), R Gray (G Peterson 58), A Miller, R Darge, S Vailanu (H Venter 75).

Edinburgh: W Goosen (E Boffelli 69); D Graham, M Currie, J Lang (M Bennett 34), D van der Merwe; B Healy, A Price (B Vellacott 69); P Schoeman (B Venter 69), E Ashman (D Cherry 69), WP Nel (D Rae 75), G Young (M Sykes 75), G Gilchrist (c), J Ritchie, H Watson (L Crosbie 50), V Mata.

Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU).

Attendance: 7,172.

Glasgow Warriors reign in the rain against Edinburgh: Josh McKay shines, Ali Price is panto villain, George Turner concern