Glasgow Warriors 17-13 Cardiff Blues
Two quick-fire tries proved decisive for Glasgow Warriors this evening, as a solid defensive shift saw them earn a 17-13 victory over Cardiff Blues at Scotstoun.
Callum Gibbins and Nick Frisby each crossed for scores within the opening ten minutes, before the Warriors defence took centre stage to grind out a first win of the 2019/20 campaign.
Right from the first whistle, the Warriors were keen to show their attacking intent. Brandon Thomson’s decision to turn down an easy three points in favour of the kick to touch was met with a roar of approval from the Scotstoun faithful, and it was a decision vindicated just three minutes later. A five-metre lineout saw a maul too powerful to stop rumble captain Gibbins over the line, with Thomson converting for a 7-0 lead.
If the first try was all about forward power, the backs made sure to show off their own scintillating skills just moments later. A superb line break from the returning Nick Grigg allowed the centre to feed the supporting Frisby, who showed good footwork to outwit the covering defender and dive over. Another conversion from Thomson, and the hosts led 14-0 after nine minutes.
Not to be outdone, the Blues replied with a try of their own from their first visit to Glasgow territory. A penalty kicked to touch by Jarrod Evans saw a rolling maul stopped short, before Aled Summerhill cut an impressive line to dive over untouched. The conversion from Evans was simple, cutting the home side’s lead in half.
A breathless start almost saw another try after just 17 minutes, as Grant Stewart spotted an opportunity to impersonate George Horne by going for an interception from a Cardiff lineout on their own five-metre line. The ball agonisingly sailed through his fingers, however, and the chance went astray.
Instead, it was the Blues who registered the next points, with Evans making no mistake with a penalty from 40 metres to narrow the gap to 14-10 after 20 minutes.
The remainder of the half saw defences to the fore; Kiran McDonald’s pursuit of a first try in Glasgow colours came up just short after the ball dribbled dead from his chargedown of Lloyd Williams’ box-kick, whilst only a covering tackle from Stafford McDowall denied Matthew Morgan from crossing for the visitors.
There was to be no further scoring in the opening stanza, though, with neither side willing to give an inch in an increasingly fiery encounter under the floodlights.

Whilst not quite in the same frenetic vein as the first, the second half began at pace. A misplaced pass from Willis Halaholo allowed Nick Grigg to hack the ball forward, and whilst the centre was outpaced by Summerhill he was more than happy to tackle the Cardiff winger into touch.
His actions indirectly led to the next points of the match, to boot – from the resulting lineout, a Matt Fagerson carry set up a ruck from which the Blues were penalised, allowing Thomson to knock over another three points to extend the lead to 17-10.
Once more, Evans was on target when presented with the opportunity to cancel out the effort of his opposite number. The Welsh international’s penalty from 40 metres just had the distance, and the score was 17-13 with half an hour to play.
From then on, chances were few and far between. With the rain now coming down in suitably October conditions, defences were well and truly on top, with big hits coming in from both sides. The next clear-cut opportunity for points fell the way of Evans on 63 minutes, but this time the fly-half’s penalty from 45 metres was well short of the uprights.
At the other end, time and again the Warriors opted to kick to the corner when penalty decisions went their way. Yet on every occasion the Blues held firm, including a sterling effort from Will Boyde to hold the ball up over his own try-line to prevent a crucial Glasgow score.
Even when Cardiff second-rower Rory Thornton was sent to the sin-bin, the hosts were unable to break through. There were moments to savour for George Thornton and Johnny Matthews, however – the front-row duo each made their first competitive appearance at Scotstoun, and in the case of the former the occasion marked his club debut.
No matter for the hosts, however – in a match defined by defence, it was fitting that it was left to Kyle Steyn to finish the match by ushering his opposite man into touch. A hard-earned victory, and one that gets Glasgow off the mark for the 2019/20 campaign.
live commentary 7:35 PM Saturday 12 Oct 2019
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Glasgow Warriors
-
Glenn Bryce
23. Replacement2metres made
16MINUTES PLAYED
1TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Huw Jones
22. Replacement0metres made
16MINUTES PLAYED
1TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Jamie Dobie
21. Replacement6metres made
21MINUTES PLAYED
4TACKLES MADE
19COMPLETE PASSES
-
Chris Fusaro
20. Replacement8metres made
21MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Tim Swinson
19. Replacement0metres made
9MINUTES PLAYED
0TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
D'arcy Rae
18. Replacement0metres made
21MINUTES PLAYED
0TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
George Thornton
17. Replacement0metres made
12MINUTES PLAYED
1TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Johnny Matthews
16. Replacement0metres made
5MINUTES PLAYED
0TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Matt Fagerson
8. Number 846metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
10TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
-
Callum Gibbins
7. Back-row29metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
10TACKLES MADE
3COMPLETE PASSES
-
Bruce Flockhart
6. Back-row0metres made
59MINUTES PLAYED
7TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Kiran McDonald
5. Second-row24metres made
71MINUTES PLAYED
11TACKLES MADE
3COMPLETE PASSES
-
Rob Harley
4. Second-row3metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
10TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Adam Nicol
3. Tighthead prop4metres made
59MINUTES PLAYED
7TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Grant Stewart
2. Hooker11metres made
75MINUTES PLAYED
7TACKLES MADE
7COMPLETE PASSES
-
Alex Allan
1. Loosehead prop14metres made
68MINUTES PLAYED
8TACKLES MADE
3COMPLETE PASSES
-
Nick Frisby
9. Scrum-half54metres made
59MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
76COMPLETE PASSES
-
Brandon Thomson
10. Stand-off34metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
8TACKLES MADE
15COMPLETE PASSES
-
Rory Hughes
11. Wing29metres made
64MINUTES PLAYED
3TACKLES MADE
2COMPLETE PASSES
-
Stafford McDowall
12. Inside-centre5metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
7TACKLES MADE
2COMPLETE PASSES
-
Nick Grigg
13. Outside-centre46metres made
64MINUTES PLAYED
11TACKLES MADE
3COMPLETE PASSES
-
Kyle Steyn
14. Wing30metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
3TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Ruaridh Jackson
15. Full-back69metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
1TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
Cardiff Blues
-
Matthew Morgan
15. Full-back17metres made
54MINUTES PLAYED
4TACKLES MADE
2COMPLETE PASSES
-
Owen Lane
14. Wing28metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
3TACKLES MADE
5COMPLETE PASSES
-
Garyn Smith
13. Outside-centre12metres made
64MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
2COMPLETE PASSES
-
Willis Halaholo
12. Inside-centre43metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
11TACKLES MADE
13COMPLETE PASSES
-
Aled Summerhill
11. Wing44metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
3TACKLES MADE
2COMPLETE PASSES
-
Jarrod Evans
10. Stand-off20metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
4TACKLES MADE
31COMPLETE PASSES
-
Lloyd Williams
9. Scrum-half20metres made
68MINUTES PLAYED
7TACKLES MADE
72COMPLETE PASSES
-
Bradley Thyer
1. Loosehead prop0metres made
54MINUTES PLAYED
15TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Kristian Dacey
2. Hooker1metres made
44MINUTES PLAYED
15TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Dimitri Arhip
3. Tighthead prop0metres made
14MINUTES PLAYED
3TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Seb Davies
4. Second-row5metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
16TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Rory Thornton
5. Second-row5metres made
70MINUTES PLAYED
11TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
-
Josh Turnbull
6. Back-row6metres made
54MINUTES PLAYED
16TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Olly Robinson
7. Back-row12metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
19TACKLES MADE
6COMPLETE PASSES
-
Will Boyde
8. Number 810metres made
65MINUTES PLAYED
20TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
-
Liam Belcher
16. Replacement11metres made
36MINUTES PLAYED
6TACKLES MADE
2COMPLETE PASSES
-
Corey Domachowski
17. Replacement0metres made
26MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Scott Andrews
18. Replacement0metres made
66MINUTES PLAYED
13TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Shane Lewis-Hughes
19. Replacement0metres made
15MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Nick Williams
20. Replacement0metres made
26MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Lewis Jones
21. Replacement0metres made
12MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
5COMPLETE PASSES
-
Jason Tovey
22. Replacement17metres made
26MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
-
Harri Millard
23. Replacement4metres made
16MINUTES PLAYED
0TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
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