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March 05, 2010

Connacht 19 - 19 Glasgow Warriors

GUINNESS PRO12 match played at Sportsground on Friday March 5th 2010 | 9 comments

DTH van der Merwe went over for Glasgow's first try
A last-gasp try from James Eddie saved Glasgow from defeat in tonight's Magners League clash against Connacht in Galway.

The try from the big flanker levelled the game at 19-19 but Colin Gregor couldn't make the conversion that would have given Glasgow the win.

Leading 14-3 thanks to three Ruaridh Jackson penalties and a try from DTH van der Merwe, Glasgow looked set to take the spoils.

However, bottom side Connacht engineered a tremendous fightback, with Ian Keatley kicking two penalties and converting a slick solo try from Gavin Duffy.

Keatley's fourth successful penalty, three minutes from time and with Glasgow's Calum Forrester in the sin-bin, looked to be the match-winning score, but Eddie had other ideas and he scrambled over in the left corner, with the grounding confirmed by TMO Dermot Moloney.

Connacht showed their intent early on with a barnstorming run from George Naoupu and chip through from Fionn Carr, but Glasgow were able to deal with the danger.

Warriors' Argentinian star Bernardo Stortoni threatened in broken play and the visitors built forward pressure before Jackson sent a tame drop-goal effort wide of the posts.

But Glasgow were first off the mark after 12 minutes when Connacht prop Brett Wilkinson was pinged for a ruck and Jackson nailed a kick from a central position.

Jon Welsh and Richie Vernon carried well for Glasgow as they tried to tie the Connacht defence in, but a block down by hooker Sean Cronin got the Irish province on the march and their first bit of decent territory yielded a successful penalty for Keatley, 24 minutes in.

That good work was undone, three minutes later, when Johnny O'Connor was singled out for going off his feet at a ruck and Jackson quickly made it 6-3.

The first 40 minutes had been pockmarked with mistakes, and a Connacht knock-on and offside, as the second half began, allowed Jackson to kick Glasgow 9-3 clear.

Jackson then missed his first place-kick, after Connacht lock Mike McCarthy saw yellow for infringing at a ruck, and Carr showed his attacking skills, hacking on twice before van der Merwe rescued the situation for the Scots.

Glasgow put 11 points between the sides in the 48th minute when Jackson initiated a purposeful counter-attack and big Canadian winger van der Merwe finished off a slick move down the left involving four players.

But the try went unconverted and Michael Bradley's men managed to play their way back into contention.

Carr, Aidan Wynne and the hard-working Naoupu took the ball up and Glasgow were marched back into their 22 before full-back Duffy ran against the grain and caught Glasgow on the drift as he eased past tackles from Mark McMillan and Ed Kalman to touch down behind the posts.

Keatley tapped over the conversion and maintained his 100% record with a fourth penalty but 14-man Glasgow increased the tempo with a series of late pick and drives, sucking a tiring Connacht defence in before James Eddie - making his 50th appearance for Glasgow - found space to squeeze over in the corner.

Referee James Jones (WRU)
Attendance
Team
1
Jon Welsh
2
Dougie Hall
3
Ed Kalman
4
Tim Barker
5
Dan Turner
6
James Eddie
7
Calum Forrester
8
Richie Vernon
9
Mark McMillan
10
Ruaridh Jackson
11
DTH van der Merwe
12
Peter Horne
13
Peter Murchie
14
Colin Shaw
15
Bernardo Stortoni
Sub
Fergus Thomson
Sub
Kevin Tkachuk
Sub
Richie Gray
Sub
Chris Fusaro
Sub
Colin Gregor
Sub
Chris Kinloch
Sub
Hefin O'Hare
Match Substitutions
Off On
Tim Barker Richie Gray
Off On
Ed Kalman Kevin Tkachuk
Off On
Ruaridh Jackson Colin Gregor
Off On
DTH van der Merwe Hefin O'Hare
Off On
Colin Shaw Chris Kinloch
Scorers
Ruaridh Jackson Penalty
Ruaridh Jackson Penalty
Ruaridh Jackson Penalty
DTH van der Merwe Try 
James Eddie Try 
Posted by russ on March 5, 2010 11:27 PM | Reply to this comment

A draw snatched from the jaws of a defeat snatched from the jaws of a win! Hustle!

Posted by Andy Fairbairn on March 6, 2010 08:41 AM | Reply to this comment

"...with the grounding confirmed by TMO Dermot Moloney"

Had to read that bit twice !

Suppose brining points back from Connacht (with James Jones in charge as well) is making the best from a bad situation.

Was following the scores in the Magners site. It seemed we built up an 11 point lead only to concede 16 unanswered right after the subs came on as usual at 50mins. Co-incidence?

Posted by Derek on March 6, 2010 08:51 AM | Reply to this comment

Ulster losing puts them under real pressure, so it was 2 points gained on them! Hopefully Dragons lose this weekend and if the O's can do us a favour against Edinburgh then it will have been a decent weekend. All things considered.

I think its going to come down to a fight between us and Edinburgh for the playoff place.

Posted by Kazakh Warrior on March 6, 2010 01:42 PM | Reply to this comment

Does that not mean that the Irish and Ospreys will be above us in the table?
Surely we want Munster, Leinster, and Ospreys all to lose this weekend?

Posted by Alistair on March 7, 2010 10:10 AM | Reply to this comment

Unless we win everything and Munster/Leinster/Os drop easy game we don't have a realistic shot at anything better than 3rd. As a result it's more important that our opponents for 4th (Edinburgh principally) lose games than the team above us lose games. In fact, Munster Leisnter Os losing games would mean Ulster and Edinburgh winning matches which would be bad for us.

Posted by Craig Macbeth on March 6, 2010 12:17 PM | Reply to this comment

Sure Moray Low was playing?

Posted by Maddie on March 6, 2010 01:42 PM | Reply to this comment

Moray Low is injured...

Posted by vicki on March 6, 2010 04:13 PM | Reply to this comment

Jim's try was a well deserved one, after the boys held their nerve and kept patient to work through several phases to get the 5 points. Thought Connacht looked very sharp, and very determined to get the win, so it was a relief to get the draw at the end. Much improved on the Cardiff performance on the whole, but still work to vbe done in certain positions.

Posted by jenni on March 6, 2010 08:28 PM | Reply to this comment

I totally agree with Vicki, the try was well deserved for James. He worked hard all game and got his reward which ended up being valuable for Glasgow. He was loitering out on the wing for ages, maybe a wee thought ! James Jones had his usual game. Nobody could fathom out his decisions which particularly annoyed the home support.

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