| Glasgow Warriors (10) 20 |
| Tries: Kebble, Wilson Cons: Hastings 2 Pens: Hastings 2 |
| Scarlets (0) 7 |
| Tries: Lee Cons: Halfpenny |
Glasgow saw off a spirited Scarlets with a 20-7 victory at Scotstoun for their first Pro14 win of the season.
Despite a scoreless first half-hour, Adam Hastings’ penalty and Oli Kebble’s try put the hosts 10-0 up by half-time.
Sam Lousi’s red card early in the second half and Ryan Wilson’s try for Glasgow made it a daunting task for Scarlets to turn the game around.
Despite Samson Lee crossing the line and two late yellows for the hosts, the Scots saw the game out.
Warriors have now won 26 of their last 29 home Pro14 matches, while Scarlets have won only two of their last 16 away.
The first half-hour was cagey from both sides, despite the promise of free-flowing attacking play – perhaps because of the nature of their slim defeats in their respective opening fixtures of the season.
Glasgow soaked up a little pressure from Scarlets in the opening 10 minutes, but inaccuracy from the away side in key positions and good defensive work from the hosts kept it scoreless.
The home side slowly grew into the game, with Hastings afforded some opportunities from penalties – and despite missing two in the first half, he converted just shy of the half-hour to open the scoring.
That proved to be the catalyst for Glasgow carrying more of an attacking threat. Just a few minutes later, Kebble ran in for the first try of the match, after patient play a couple of metres out.
Scarlet’s first real opportunity to put points on the board came just a few minutes before the half, with a penalty Leigh Halfpenny uncharacteristically struck wide.
Link-up play between Tom Rogers and Johnny Williams put Scarlets in a strong position just before the break, as they were forced to open up a little at 10-0 down, but Glasgow saw out the half after another penalty was conceded by the visitors – their 10th of the period.
Lousi’s high shoulder charge on Ratu Tagive just a couple of minutes into the second half saw referee Frank Murphy show red. Glasgow looked to turn up the pressure on the visitors, with the prospect of almost an entire half against 14 men.
Danny Wilson’s players showed similar patience to their first try, five metres from the try line, with Rob Harley finally pushing Ryan Wilson over the line.
With the target of a bonus point in the mind for Glasgow, pressure resulted in a second Hastings penalty, extending the lead to 20.
However, the dogged visitors hit back with Lee crossing the line on his 150th appearance to cut the deficit. Shortly after, Steff Evans saved a certain try with a superb tackle on Tommy Seymour, and it helped further reinvigorate the away side.
A yellow for Richie Gray levelled the playing field, before Glasgow went down to 13 men after Nick Grigg also saw yellow for a high tackle on James Davies 10 minutes from time.
Evans was agonisingly close to crossing the line to set up a tense finish. However, the hosts’ defence held to earn their first Pro14 win of the season, while the visitors leave with their second losing bonus point of the season.
Glasgow Warriors: Jones; Seymour, Grigg, McDowall, Tagive; Hastings, Price; Kebble, Brown (capt), Z Fagerson, Harley, Cummings, Wilson, Gordon, M Fagerson.
Replacements: Turner, Seiuli, Rae, Gray, Fusaro, Horne, Horne, Matawalu.
Scarlets: Halfpenny; Rogers, Jonathan Davies (capt), Williams, Evans; D Jones, G Davies; W Jones, Elias, Lee, Ball, Lousi, Thomson, Macleod, Kalamafoni.
Replacements: Owens, Price, Sebastian, Rawlins, James Davies, Hardy, Patchell, Hughes.
