WARRIORS TOPPLE LEADERS LEINSTER

The Glasgow Warriors secured a vital result tonight by toppling Magners League leaders Leinster in fine style at Hughenden : the first Glasgow victory in 10 meetings of the two sides. The Warriors looked strong from the start and didN't allow the visitors to play much rugby, pleasing most of the 2121 supporters.

 Warriors coach Sean Lineen said: "Leinster are the best in the league. We started well and showed some guts. We took our foot off the gas at points but it was a great win. "Our players don't like losing. This is our ground and it's difficult for teams to come here and win. Tonight was an outstanding performance and fantastic for us. It was a really good team performance,â€? he added. It was something of a scrappy opening in the first few minutes at a dry and still but noisy Hughenden with several errors coming from the visitors and a few from the home side. Glasgow were awarded a penalty after just four minutes of play but stand-off Dan Parks couldn’t quite find his mark. However it wasn’t long before the points came as winger Thom Evans took a popped pass from Parks’ set move on the Leinster 22 metre line. Evans found a hole before being tackled but quick ball to Parks saw the stand-off launch a high wide pass to winger Hefin O’Hare who was waiting on the far touchline. He gathered and strolled in at the corner for 5-0 as Parks’ second attempt at goal also faltered.

Leinster hit back after 15 minutes of play as stand-off Felipe Contepomi converted his first penalty attempt for 5-3. Glasgow regained their five point lead as Parks struck his first successful goal on the 20 minute mark. A most sensational try followed for the home team as Leinster full back Girvan Dempsey’s clearance kick sliced off his boot. Winger Shane Horgan recklessly flung the ball infield having caught it on the touchline but Glasgow centre Scott Barrow intercepted. He was tackled but as the ball came back on the narrow side, Parks slipped a well weighted kick past the defence. It was guddled but eventually Warrior full back Rory Lamont dived on it for the score and 13-3. Lamont was then busy at the other end as Leinster broke through Horgan. He raced up field and popped inside to winger Denis Hickie but Lamont’s covering tackle was strong enough to dislodge the ball, giving Glasgow the advantage at the scrum and saving an almost certain try. Leinster stole a try back just before half time as hooker Brian Blaney appeared with ball in hand on the Glasgow side of a ruck. He was one-on-one with Lamont but a simple high pop pass to outside centre Gordon D’Arcy put the Irish international under the posts for Contepomi to convert and 13-10 at half time. Leinster had the opportunity to draw level three minutes into the second half but Contepomi missed the uprights, however two minutes later D’Arcy was under the posts once again to the outright anger of the home support who had seen something off the ball moments earlier.

The touchjudge appeared to have witnessed the incident too but referee Tim Hayes decided to take no action. Contepomi converted for 17-13. Glasgow came back to within a point as Parks added three points from a penalty on the left hand side. Parks had another opportunity on 55 minutes as Leinster prop Stan Wright was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes. Parks converted the penalty for the lead at 19-17 and at the same time taking his personal tally for the club to 751 points and 203 for the season. Well done Dan! A superb individual try followed as a Leinster attack was halted as they failed to keep hold of the ball but the ever-opportunistic Thom Evans gather the ball in his own 22 and, spotting the absence of the full back, punted the ball up field. He gave chase, collected the bouncing ball and won the race to the Leinster try line. Parks converted for 26-17. Contepomi missed another penalty on 70 minutes but brought his side to within a converted score seven minutes later as he maximised on replacement flanker Donnie Macfadyen’s error. Macfadyen was also sent to the sin bin for slowing the ball down and with just minutes left on the clock and at 26-20 Glasgow threw everything into hanging on for the win. Leinster kept coming and the crowd bristled as replacement winger Luke Fitzgerald burst onto the ball. Hefin O’Hare’s tackle brought a satisfied sigh from the crowd and as Leinster attacked one final time only to lose the ball in contact, it looked like Glasgow had done it. Sure enough, Dan Parks cleared the danger and referee Hayes sounded his whistle to end the match. Lineen said: “That result has given us a bank to get our show back on the road.

We’ve got four games to go and we said we wanted great things from our final five matches. That started tonight. Don’t underestimate how hard that was to win that game.� Referee – Tim Hayes (WRU) GLASGOW WARRIORS: Rory Lamont; Hefin O’Hare, Graeme Morrison, Scott Barrow, Thom Evans; Dan Parks, Graeme Beveridge; Justin Va’a, Fergus Thomson*, Euan Murray*, Andy Newman, Alastair Kellock* CAPTAIN, Steve Swindall, John Barclay*, John Beattie* Substitutes: Scott Lawson* (for Thomson, 47mins), Kevin Tkachuk (for Va’a, 59mins), James Eddie, Andrew Wilson* (for Swindall, 79mins), Donnie Macfadyen (for Beattie, 33mins), Colin Gregor, Colin Shaw * indicates member of the Scottish Institute of Sport LEINSTER: Girvan Dempsey; Shane Horgan, Gordon D’Arcy, Christian Warner, Denis Hickie; Felipe Contepomi CAPTAIN, Chris Whitaker; Stanley Wright, Brian Blaney, Will Green, Trevor Hogan, Malcolm O’Kelly, Cameron Jowitt, Keith Gleeson, Jamie Heaslip Substitutes: Reggie Corrigan, Harry Vermaas, Owen Finegan, Kevin McLaughlin, Guy Easterby, Luke Fitzgerald, Rob Kearney