Glasgow 17 Ulster 9:GLASGOW MAINTAINED their impressive recent form in the Pro 12 with a hard-fought 17-9 victory over Ulster at Firhill Arena last night that moves them up alongside Ospreys and Leinster in top spot.
The home side’s fifth consecutive league victory was secured thanks to 12 points from the boot of Duncan Weir and a Troy Nathan try and represented a welcome return following their heavy Heineken Cup loss to Leinster the previous weekend.
Ulster’s nine points came via three penalties from outhalf Ian Humphreys, but they were left with no reward for their efforts as the hosts snatched the win in the closing stages.
Weir broke the deadlock with an early penalty as, despite the omission of secondrow Richie Weir from their starting XV, Glasgow dominated the opening lineout exchanges.
Ulster, however, looked lively on the counter and Ireland international Andrew Trimble made a clean break in midfield before offloading to Simon Danielli.
The Scot was stopped just short however and then penalised for holding on in the tackle.
The scores were level moments later though, as Humphreys slotted a penalty from 30 metres.
It was not long until the relentless forward power of Glasgow paid dividends, a thrusting run from temporary blood replacement Chris Fusaro only being halted by a dangerously high tackle from hooker Andy Kyriacou.
Weir converted the resulting penalty with ease and extended his side’s lead further with another successful kick despite the swirling wind.
Humphreys was not so accurate just before half-time, but made amends minutes into the second half after the Glasgow frontrow were penalised for dropping their bind.
The scores were level again when a kick ahead from Humphreys ricocheted off the foot of Glasgow winger David Lemi.
The ball was gathered by Graeme Morrison but the centre was adjudged to have been in an offside position, allowing Humphreys to slot another penalty.
However, as the wind continued to whistle through the stadium, kicking conditions became increasingly difficult and Humphreys sliced two penalty attempts wide of the uprights in quick succession.
And Glasgow made their opponents pay with only minutes left to secure the only try of the match.
Having broken one tackle, Weir released Nathan who, after exchanging passes with Lemi, romped over in the corner to touch down.
Weir skewed the conversion wide but made sure of the win in the dying moments with a calmly struck drop-goal.
GLASGOW: Hogg; Lemi, Nathan, Morrison, Aramburu; Weir, Pyrgos; Welsh, MacArthur, Cusack, Ryder, Kellock, Harley, Barclay, Wilson. Replacements: Grant for Welsh (40 mins), Cusiter for Pyrgos (53), Low for Cusack, Gray for Ryder, Fusaro for Wilson (all 62). Not used: Gillies, Dunbar, Shaw.
ULSTER: D’Arcy; Trimble, Cave, Spence, Danielli; Humphreys, P Marshall; Court, Kyriacou, Fitzpatrick, Muller, Tuohy, Diack, Faloon, Wannenburg. Replacements: Whitten for Danielli (57), Macklin for Fitzpatrick (63), Brady for Kyriacou, Barker for Tuohy (both 70). Not Used: Black, McComish, Porter, Jackson.
Referee: Stefano Penne (Italy).
Stephen Jones celebrated his 300th appearance for the Scarlets by putting over all his six kicks as they beat the Dragons 22-12 at Parc y Scarlets. The home side’s other score came from a Rhys Thomas try.
