Dan Parks showed a cool head to score Glasgow's 12 points (Photo by J Thomson)

They probably thought that the points were in the bag when replacement flanker David Callum picked the ball up from the base of an attacking scrum and slumped over the Glasgow line deep inside the final quarter. Chris Paterson’s conversion gave his side the lead for the first time in the match, but Dan Parks proved the home hero as he kicked all his side’s points, including a late, late penalty to snatch victory at the death.

Paterson was left to rue an earlier penalty attempt that had hit the post. The match ended with high drama as Paterson attempted to reclaim the lead with his own last-ditch penalty attempt but the final kick of the match drifted wide and the honours went west.

Glasgow coach Hugh Campbell admitted: "If you look at the statistics, we stole the victory because Edinburgh had all the possession and all the territory but we deserved the win because we showed real character in defence out there."

The match may have been short on running rugby but the intensity was several light years away from what is usually seen when two Scottish sides collide and the dramatic final quarter ensured that the 2,100 fans stayed to the bitter (for Edinburgh) end. This rivalry dates back 132 years but rarely can the contest have been so bad tempered. There was a brace of yellow cards, a mass punch-up and enough handbags to supply Gucci for a lifetime.

The feisty atmosphere seemed to favour Glasgow, who found themselves three points to the good in as many minutes thanks to a Parks penalty but they barely had time to congratulate themselves before they were fully employed in desperate defending which was pretty much the story for the rest of the match.

The game was played at a fast and furious pace from the off, with both sides committed to attacking with the ball in hand. Edinburgh enjoyed the bulk of possession but they were guilty of moving the ball too wide too early. In contrast, Glasgow were far more direct and, more importantly, they brought to their play a conviction that was almost wholly absent from their last outing against the Borders. With Glasgow 3-0, up the game should have swung Edinburgh’s way, with two yellow cards brandished at home players within two minutes. The first went to Donnie Macfadyen for handling in a ruck after the flanker had already earned himself a reprimand. The second went to Kelly, for stamping, but only after intervention from the far touch judge.

With a two-man advantage, Edinburgh had numerous chances to steal the lead but somehow couldn’t find their way over the line, although Scott Murray will still be claiming that he grounded the ball for years to come. So both Macfadyen and Kelly were able to return to the action without a point scored. Even when Edinburgh worked their way up to the Glasgow danger zone, another lineout went begging due to a wayward throw and instead Glasgow went into the dressing room 6-0 up thanks to Parks’ second penalty just before the break.

The Edinburgh try that had looked inevitable for most of the first half looked equally inevitable at the beginning of the second. Edinburgh’s Kelly ignored Allister Hogg lurking unmarked outside him for a sure score and the No.8 also spilled a scoring pass from Brendan Laney, who had made a magical scything break up the middle. Sean Lamont bundled his opposite number Simon Webster into touch inches from the line and Edinburgh finally opted to kick one of their many penalties at goal with Paterson doing the dutiful six minutes after the restart.

Edinburgh continued to make the running and almost scored when Blair took a quick penalty and moved the ball to Paterson who had acres of space on the left wing but somehow the cover defence dealt with the immediate threat and Allan Jacobsen’s handling let him down under the posts. Almost inevitably, since Edinburgh couldn’t score, Glasgow showed them how when Parks dropped a peach of a goal just as the match entered its final quarter. Edinburgh kicked yet another penalty into touch and from the resulting scrum Callum contributed the first try on the match on 67 minutes.

Paterson hit the conversion but his joy was short-lived because Parks’ three-pointer gave Glasgow the honours while Edinburgh remain without a win.

Match report by Iain Morrison from Scotland on Sunday