Glasgow Warriors performance in dumping Ospreys was 'outstanding', beams Lineen

Oct 28 2010 By Jordan Costello

SEAN LINEEN hailed Glasgow Warriors' victory against the Ospreys at Firhill on Sunday and reckons they are getting better and better.

The Glasgow side battled to a 31-23 win after tries by Richie Gray, Richie Vernon and Kevin Tkachuk.

And Lineen insists he is consistently seeing improvement in his side.

He said: "We have improved every game this season. It has been a frustrating time, but a victory like this was never far away. Some of the rugby we played was outstanding."

Captain John Barclay, pictured, agreed with his coach and paid tribute to one of the greatest 40 minutes of his Warriors career.

He said: "That was one of the best second halves I have ever been involved in during my seven years with Warriors. From one to 15, every player made an impact."

The first points of the match came two minutes after the whistle.

Glasgow were penalised at the scrum, giving Ospreys stand-off Dan Biggar a simple strike at the posts.

It wasn't long before the visitors extended their lead as winger Nikki Walker, who always seems to find his scoring form against Scottish sides, crossed the line with a straight forward two-on-one. Biggar was unsuccessful with the conversion.

Glasgow were awarded a penalty in front of the posts in 14 minutes, gaining their first points of the match.

Moments later, they were penalised, allowing Biggar his second penalty of the match.

And Warriors were rewarded again when Gray confused the opposition defence with a dummy, opening the way for him to stride over the l ine. But Ruaridh Jackson missed the conversion.

The Ospreys responded, with Walker touching down on the far side for his second try.

Glasgow once again found themselves metres from the line through a fantastic break from Dougie Hall.

But they had to settle for three point s when Ryan Jones was sin-binned for killing the ball - and Jackson knocked over another simple penalty.

It took the best part of 15 minutes before there were any points in the second half.

The Ospreys were punished for collapsing the scrum, permitting Jackson another three points. Then, 10 minutes later, replacement fly-half Duncan Weir raised the roof as he added another three points, giving the Warriors the lead for the first time.

The second half lifted off in 67 minutes as Barclay scooped up a knock-on deep in the Ospreys' 22.

It was then fed through the forwards before it found Vernon, who crossed for his first try of the night. Weir converted.

Glasgow continued to play the game at an incredible pace, with the Ospreys struggling to cope.

It wasn't long before the Warriors found themselves over the try line again after a scrum led to replacement prop Tkachuk diving over the line.

Walker scored another try for Ospreys but Glasgow held out.