Glasgow Warriors bid stylish farewell to Firhill as they secure play-off spot with win over Connacht

May 7 2012

Sean Lineen

GLASGOW WARRIORS set themselves up for a RaboDirect PRO12 semi-final tie against Leinster after a resounding 24-3 victory over Connacht saw them secure fourth place in the league table.

In their last ever game at Firhill before their summer move to the recently redeveloped Scotstoun Stadium, the Warriors impressed throughout and grabbed the spoils thanks to tries from DTH van der Merwe and John Barclay.

The rest of the points came from the boot of Duncan Weir, while replacement Ruaridh Jackson also chipped in with a late conversion. Despite their loss, Connacht remained in eighth place in the table, their highest league finish ever.

Head coach Sean Lineen, right, praised his team for their professionalism and said: "Connacht were as gutsy as we'd expected them to be, but we held firm and were very worthy winners.

"Leinster will be a huge challenge for us, we know that, but we’ve got faith in the spirit, character and ability of this side and we’ll be doing everything we can to win the game."

The Warriors opened proceedings with fly-half Weir thumping over a penalty after the Connacht front row buckled in the scrum, having missed a long-range effort moments earlier.

Connacht drew level within minutes however with their first foray into Glasgow territory, Miah Nikora stroking a straightforward penalty through the uprights.

The away side began to visibly grow in confidence as the half progressed, the elusive running of centre Henry Fa'afili proving particularly destructive, while the tactical astuteness of Nikora began to take effect. The fly-half's clever cross-kick released Gavin Duffy, only for the home rearguard to smother the move.

This period of pressure was short-lived however, as the Warriors began to reassert some authority on proceedings with a Weir penalty from 50 metres.

Tensions ran high in the game, referee Peter Fitzgibbon took several minutes to restore order after one particular altercation, Weir this time squandered the resultant penalty as the first half drew to a close.

The hosts increased their lead early in the second period with a third successful penalty and they continued to dominate as the half wore on.

The visitors were temporarily reduced to 14 men when replacement scrum-half Paul O'Donohoe was ordered to the sin-bin for petulantly throwing opposing number Chris Cusiter to the ground off the ball. From the resulting penalty, Glasgow assumed prime field position and secured a scrum metres from the Connacht line.

The hosts marched the scrum into the dead-ball area with ease, allowing number eight Barclay to dab down for a try converted by substitute Jackson.

Towards the end of the game, Glasgow took their foot off the gas and Connacht enjoyed their best spell of pressure, but they were unable to convert their territorial advantage into points, allowing Glasgow to wave goodbye to their Firhill career in style.