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November 11, 2007

Saracens 33 - 31 Glasgow Warriors

Heineken Cup match played at Vicarage Road on Sunday November 11th 2007 | 12 comments

Scott Barrow's introduction helped Glasgow back into the game at Vicarage Road
Glasgow coach Sean Lineen was left rueing defensive lapses as the Warriors went down to a 33-31 defeat at the hands of Saracens.

Despite a stirring second-half fightback the Warriors left Vicarage Road with only a bonus point for their efforts in the Heineken Cup opener.

Sean said: "There was a lot of rugby played but we had to work slightly harder for our tries than Saracens. We made it very easy for them.

"Our defence has been fairly watertight in the last few games so to leak tries like that was disappointing.

"We made too many unforced errors and Saracens are one team who will make you pay for that, but the boys showed tremendous courage to come back."

Saracens, trailing to an early Dan Parks penalty, hit Glasgow with a try in the eighth minutes.

High-speed handling by Penney and lock Kris Chesney sent Vyvyan in near the posts.

The hosts struck again 13 minutes later with another well-executed try.

Jackson was involved twice, finding Andy Farrell and taking the return pass on a looping run to send Penney on a straight run to the line.

Glasgow, trailing 17-3, responded with a fine try - involving a trio of Scottish internationals.

Parks and centre Andrew Henderson combined to put flanker John Barclay over in the left-hand corner.

But Saracens, winners of four of their six Premiership matches this season, threatened for a time to run away.

Penney was denied his second try when French referee Romain Poite ruled that Jackson's long final pass was forward.

Prop Kevin Yates was deprived of a try when force of Glasgow numbers prevented him from grounding the ball after crashing over the line.

But the respite was short-lived for the Warriors.

From the resulting scrum, the Saracans pack pushed their Glasgow counterparts backwards over their own line for Skirving to touch down.

The bonus point was secured when Jackson, Kevin Sorrell and Farrell swept the ball wide for Fijian international Ratuvou to score try number four in the left-hand corner.

Former Glasgow full-back Francisco Leonelli almost got in on the scoring act, but his powerful run ended when he was hauled down just short of the Warriors line.

Glasgow refused to throw in the towel, salvaging a late losing bonus point with tries by Hefin O'Hare and Al Kellock - with only Jackson's third penalty keeping Saracens' noses in front.

Referee Romain Poite (France)
Attendance 7012
Team
1
Justin Va'a
2
Fergus Thomson
3
Moray Low
4
Andy Newman
5
Alastair Kellock
6
Kelly Brown
7
John Barclay
8
John Beattie
9
Chris O'Young
10
Dan Parks
11
Thom Evans
12
Daryl Gibson
13
Andrew Henderson
14
Lome Fa'atau
15
Bernardo Stortoni
Sub
Eric Milligan
Sub
Ed Kalman
Sub
Dan Turner
Sub
James Eddie
Sub
Sam Pinder
Sub
Scott Barrow
Sub
Hefin O'Hare
Match Substitutions
Off On
Thom Evans Hefin O'Hare
Off On
Andy Newman Dan Turner
Off On
Andrew Henderson Scott Barrow
Off On
Chris O'Young Sam Pinder
Off On
Justin Va'a Ed Kalman
Off On
Fergus Thomson Eric Milligan
Off On
Kelly Brown James Eddie
Scorers
Dan Parks Penalty
John Barclay Try 
Dan Parks Penalty
Dan Parks Penalty
Dan Parks Penalty
Hefin O'Hare Try 
Dan Parks Conversion
Alastair Kellock Try 
Dan Parks Conversion
Gallery
    Comments
    Posted by bossco85 on November 11, 2007 07:24 PM | Reply to this comment

    Unlucky guys, sounds like we gave it a pretty good go, especialy in the second half. Looks good for the home game right enough, im just sick of playing sarries!! Looking forward to Viadanna next week, does anyone think Scott Barrow should be starting games? He always makes a huge difference when he comes on. Anyway, head up for next friday!

    Posted by billyidol on November 11, 2007 11:32 PM | Reply to this comment

    Shame there, I was working all day so couldn't watch it but bring on Viadana on friday.

    Posted by jamiefeg on November 12, 2007 02:45 AM | Reply to this comment

    Anyone else notice that sky sports firstly put moray low down as first try scorer when supposedly it was john barclay!!then secondly they refer to us as Edinburgh (last team we want to be refered too in my opinion) twice. makes me think they dont give a ... monkeys about the mighty glasgow warriors!!

    Posted by gonesouth on November 12, 2007 07:48 AM | Reply to this comment

    Never mind Sky Sports, the announcer at the game said it was Moray! The good news, excellent try by John - bad news he looks like a tighthead prop.

    Posted by Big Blue on November 12, 2007 08:09 AM | Reply to this comment

    The scrum was murdered again at the hands of Sarries. Full credit to the guys for fighting right to the death but the scoreline certainly flattered us.

    Posted by ecks tartan army on November 12, 2007 10:42 AM | Reply to this comment

    bbc also had moray as first try scorer - and BBC three counties radio kept making a mess of scorlines and scorers!

    if only parks had got that penalty from half-way though! ;)

    Posted by vicki on November 12, 2007 01:07 PM | Reply to this comment

    His previous kick (which did go over) seemed to be from a couple of metres within his own half, but was almost directly in front of the posts. The second, was an equally long kick, but had the angle. It very nearly went over as well. There was simply too much damage done in the first half.
    However, Barclay's try was a classy score. (No, it definitely wasnn't Moray who scored). Hefin had a terrific game, showing his usual commitment and eye for the try line. On yesterday's showing, he must surely deserve to start on Friday.
    Leonelli had a good game for his new club, but I think our own Argentinian full-back had the edge!

    Posted by luckyrugger on November 12, 2007 02:36 PM | Reply to this comment

    I agree, coupled with the fact that Thom Evans went off with hamstring trouble and Hefin's good form of late I'd say he deserves a start.

    Posted by Jason Harris on November 12, 2007 02:05 PM | Reply to this comment

    Good to see that there were some folks listening to the web commentary.

    There was an occasion in the first half when the commentator got the score wrong. This was due to him writing down "5" when it should have been "3".

    I don't recall any problems with the scorers that were visible as they crossed the line. The only one I recall not being sure about was the Al Kellock try at the end as, if I recall correctly, there were two Glasgow players out there with no number on the back of their shirts, of which Al was one.

    By the way, the opening Glasgow try was Barclay all the way from the commentary box. Moray Low was nowhere near the ball for the entire move!

    Posted by sunday5 on November 13, 2007 08:30 AM | Reply to this comment

    This sounds like a great game, all the papers said it was a real nail biter. Well done to Sarries, their pack just seems too strong for our front row to handle. Looking forward to the return leg!

    Friday should be good. I'm dragging the Mrs along for the second time. The poor girl kind of shivers and attempts to look interested, any chance of the bar doing some mulled wine to keep her warm and happy?

    I take it we need to put a lot of points past Vidana to go through? Unless we can beat Biaritz away of coure.

    Posted by DGLASSFORD on November 13, 2007 01:23 PM | Reply to this comment

    At half time it looked like we were dead and buried as they seemed to be able to score at will through powerful fowards and slick back play. But Glasgows never say lose attitude was evident again as has been several times this season and we almost snatched a remarkable victory. The stunned silence as we scored our 2 late tries was worth the entry price. Why Hefin does not start I do not know as he is a proven try scorer. The current wingers although fast have not shown much. Scot Barrow also desrves a chance. Roll on Viadana for the next leg.

    Posted by alsfan on November 13, 2007 09:27 PM | Reply to this comment

    I think that's "powerful fowards (sic) and slick back play" .... and poor defence .. that needs to be addressed. Hopefully, it will be!

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