WARRIORS 22-19 LEINSTER 

Calum Forrester (L) and Ruaridh Jackson (C) were two of Sean Lineen's stand-out performers.

A blood-thirsty fight-back from Glasgow Warriors earned them their first win of the 2010/11 Magners League season over two time champions Leinster at Firhill tonight (22-19).

Despite two clean penalty strikes from stand-off Ruaridh Jackson, Glasgow trailed by ten points at the interval having let in two weak tries, which came as the result of Glasgow errors, in the first-half.

In the second-half, one penalty from three attempts saw Jackson edge the hosts closer before a converted try from winger DTH Van Merwe tied the game. The teams then exchanged three pointers before replacement stand-off, Duncan Weir, kicked Glasgow into a lead which they kept to see out for the win.

After the game, head coach Sean Lineen said: “That was a very satisfying win. It’s great to see the passion the guys played with.

Duncan Weir shares a moment with injured captain Alastair Kellock who congratulates the youngster on being named Man of the Match.

“We learnt some lessons against Wasps last weekend and we fixed them. A lot of hard work has gone into our defence by [defence coach] Gary Mercer.

“We maybe lacked a bit of confidence after we conceded the two tries, but we really came out in the second half. The crowd got behind us enormously, I mean they just grew and grew. What a noise.”

As for the stand-out performers, Lineen continued: “Henry Pyrgos was outstanding. This is his first season of professional rugby, and after putting on a few kilos in pre-season, he did very well to last the full 80 minutes in such a hostile environment.

“Both fly halves were outstanding. Ruaridh Jackson kicked well and Duncan Weir came on as the pressure grew.

“I’ve also got to mention Calum Forrester. Calum is one of these guys who has been around for a while now. He always stands out and it’s great to see him doing so as part of a winning Glasgow team.”

Leinster inside-centre Fergus McFadden kicked the visitors into the lead after just two minutes as a result of Glasgow lock Tom Ryder being penalised for not rolling away. However, his opposite man Ruaridh Jackson equalised when Leinster were charged for the same offence, 3-3.

Moments later, horror filled Firhill when Leinster collected a drop ball and chipped ahead deep into Warriors territory but was knocked on by the sliding Leinster centre Eoin O’Malley as he raced against Glasgow to the rolling ball.

After quarter of an hour Leinster recaptured their led through the boot of McFadden but Jackson answered with a lovely strike from out wide five minutes later, 6-6.

It was then that ten minutes of disaster struck the home team.

Glasgow earned great possession thanks to a neat chip and chase but Fergus Thomson’s overthrown lineout was caught cleanly by Leinster back-row Jamie Heaslip who offloaded to Dominic Ryan. Ryan then ran in unchallenged to score, 6-11. McFadden missed the conversion.

In similar fashion once more, some individual skill from Glasgow was followed by a disappointing score from the visitors.

A spilled pass was hoofed into the Glasgow 22 and as the two teams scrambled after the loose ball it was Leinster scrum-half, Isaac Boss, who slapped his hand down on the ball for the score. McFadden missed the chance to add the extras once more, 6-16.

Half time score: Glasgow 6-16 Leinster

Despite trailing by ten points at the break, Glasgow returned to the field brimming with the desire needed to get things back on track.

Jackson pulled another three points back with one penalty before being replaced by rookie Duncan Weir, 9-16.

Ruaridh Jackson was on form with the boot.

With the Firhill faithful now at fever pitch having witnessed such a spirited comeback, Glasgow went in search of the win.

Only a desperate Leinster defence could hold the likes of Richie Gray and Richie Vernon from crossing the line, but the pressure finally told and Glasgow went through the phases to set up Weir for a crack at a drop goal, with which he found the target, 19-16.

Centre Fergus McFadden was replaced in the second period, handing stand-off Isa Nacewa the kicking duties. He converted a Leinster penalty with only six minutes on the clock to shift both sets of supporters ever closer to the edge of their seats, 19-19.

However, although the entire team performed excellently, the night belonged to Weir, who on his second outing in a Glasgow jersey at Firhill, calmly nudged a 77th minutes penalty between the uprights from 30 metres out so seal a vital home win, 22-19.

Glasgow Warriors: Bernardo Stortoni; DTH Van Der Merwe, Max Evans, Graeme Morrison, Federico Aramburu; Ruaridh Jackson, Henry Pygros; Jon Welsh, Fergus Thomson, Moray Low, Tom Ryder, Richie Gray, Ryan Wilson, Calum Forrester, Richie Vernon; Pat MacArthur, Ryan Grant, Ed Kalman, Alastair Muldowney, Duncan Weir, Hefin O’Hare, Peter Murchie, Robert Harley

Leinster: Luke Fitzgerald; Shane Horgan, Eoin O’Malley, Fergus McFadden, Niall Morris; Isa Nacewa, Isaac Boss; Heinke Van Der Merwe, Richardt Strauss, Simon Shawe, Nathan Hines, Ed O’Donoghue, Dominic Ryan, Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip; John Fogarty, Jack McGrath, Ben Prescott, Mariano Galarza, Stephen Keogh, Paul O’Donohoe, Ian Madigan, Eamonn Sheridan