Glasgow Warriors defeated Leinster 30-6 in the penultimate match of the regular Magners League season in front of a 4,638 strong Firhill crowd, temporarily elevating the club to second spot and boosting their bid for a place the play-offs.

A try from full-back Bernardo Stortoni, converted by stand-off Dan Parks, was followed by two penalties a piece from either side to put Glasgow in the lead at the interval.

However, despite the visitors picking up a four yellow cards, a second-half brace from replacement wing Rob Dewey sealed the victory but the four-try bonus point remained elusive.

Head coach Sean Lineen said after the match: “We’ll take it. It’s always hard to play against Leinster. They made it really difficult for us in the contact.

“The crowd were fantastic once again tonight. We needed more composure which we’ve struggled with over the past few weeks. But we’ll take a win over Leinster any day.”

After two missed penalties from Leinster full-back Ian Madigan, Glasgow took the initiative when Stortoni crossed the Leinster line in the 22nd minute.

Parks conversion saw him surpass 1,500 career points, before he and Madigan exchanged their pair of penalties towards in the final ten minutes of the half.

HALF TIME: Glasgow 13-6 Leinster

Four minutes into the second-half a ruthless high tackle on scrum-half Chris Cusiter offered Parks the chance to extend the lead but, while the kick was in range in front, Parks uncharacteristically knocked it wide.

Minutes later Glasgow threatened the try line once more when the hosts were piling their forwards into the Leinster defence. Parks spotted the cross field kick was on and floated one across to outside-centre Max Evans who, under pressure from his opposite man, just couldn’t control the ball.

Glasgow continued to pile on the pressure, so much so that the threatened Leinster were forced to continually infringe, before picking up their third yellow card of the match when flanker Rhys Ruddock was penalised for not rolling away.

It was then another Glasgow attempt on the try line which went gagging. The rangy-running of Johnnie Beattie gathered pace as he crossed the park before cutting through the gap created as he out-paced his tracking defender.

Beattie was brought down just yards of the line and popped the ball to Cusiter who was ready to take the ball on however confusion with open-side flanker John Barclay saw the flanker crash through on the Cus-bound ball only to knock the ball over the try-line.

It was then that Warriors coach Sean Lineen saw fit to shake things up and, on the 56th minute brought Dougie Hall, Rob Dewey and Mark McMillan on for Fergus Thomson, Colin Shaw and Chris Cusiter respectively.

The introduction of Dewey, out through injury since October, was an inspired decision as the heavy-weight winger broke through on an inside ball from the lineout to score after just five minutes on the park.

Parks added the extras before Dewey struck once more, this time winning the battle for a cross-field kick from Parks who then converted the score with the last kick of the game.

FULL TIME: Glasgow 30-6 Leinster

Man of the Match: Johnnie Beattie (Glasgow Warriors)

Glasgow Warriors: Bernardo Stortoni; Colin Shaw*, Max Evans, Graeme Morrison, Hefin O'Hare; Dan Parks, Chris Cusiter; Kevin Tkachuk, Fergus Thomson, Moray Low, Tim Barker, Alastair Kellock CAPTAIN, Kelly Brown, John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie
Substitutes: Dougie Hall, Ed Kalman, Dan Turner, Calum Forrester, Mark McMillan, Duncan Weir**, Rob Dewey

* = Fulltime Scotland 7s contract
** = Member of Scottish Rugby's National Academy

Leinster: Ian Madigan; Simon Keogh, Eoin O'Malley, Fergus McFadden, Michael Keating; Paul O'Donohoe, Chris Keane; Ronan McCormack, Bernard Jackman CAPTAIN, Mike Ross, Trevor Hogan, Ciaran Ruddock, Rhys Ruddock, Paul Ryan, Stephen Keogh
Substitutes: Jason Harris-Wright, Jack McGrath, Mark Flanagan, Dominic Ryan, David Moore, Kyle Tonetti, Andrew Conway

Attendance: 4,638
Referee: James Jones (WRU)