Fired up Glasgow are no longer the poor relation Revenge proves sweet as Munro and Logan lead triumph over Edinburgh

The men from the West, with Shade Munro ruling the lineout roost and Kenny Logan staking a Test claim for the full-back berth, were yards faster in thought and deed than much-fancied Edinburgh in this European qualifying tournament tie. And, in keeping with festive spirit, it seems that Glasgow - the Cinderella district of Scottish rugby - shall go to the ball after all.

Last season, Glasgow were without a win in the inter-district championship, and defeat in the European play-off against North and Midlands relegated them to the second-tier Conference tournament in Europe. Today, they head the qualifying championship standings. There are still two European Sundays to go but, certainly, the Kevin Greene-coached side were by far the most enterprising of the sides on display in the Murrayfield double-header.

Greene said later: ``Glasgow have always been looked upon as the poor relations of District rugby. Well, now we've beaten one of the tournament favourites and that was a good effort.

``The side played with a lot of fire and spirit, and maybe that has been lacking in the past. We have benefited from playing in the European Conference this season and there's now a new awareness from Glasgow players about what is required at this level.

``The driving forward play particularly pleased me. We knocked Edinburgh back in the tackle, harassed them, and cut down their options by continually being in their faces.

``Guys like Kenny Logan, Shade Munro, and the Wallace boys have a real hunger to play for Glasgow and their example rubs off on the squad.''

Munro, just recently returned from his Southern Hemisphere master-class with Bay of Plenty, was a revelation, not just in the lineout, but elsewhere as well, while Kenny Logan was safe in defence and hit the line at pace when attacking from deep. He combined particularly well with Derek Stark on the right wing and there is no doubt that this duo will have given the international selectors some food for thought.

The reaction from the Edinburgh camp was one of bitter disappointment. Assistant coach Ian Barnes, in particular, did not spare the lash. ``I've been involved in this coaching business for 20 years and that was the worst performance I have ever been involved with.

``I'll go further. When I played for the Hawick High School first-year side, we lost to Langholm by 50-odd points. That's the only other performance which compares with how we played today.''

Edinburgh captain Scott Hastings declared: ``That was a particularly awful performance. Individually and collectively, we let ourselves and our supporters down. We know what we have to do in training this week and we will never put in a performance like that again. The blame lies fairly and squarely on our shoulders.''

All of which, as mea culpas go, is pretty all-encompassing. It does, though, tend to suggest that Edinburgh's demise was almost entirely of their own making. That is wide of the mark. Up front, Glasgow were streets ahead of Edinburgh and, while there was not an over-abundance of enterprise shown by the Glasgow backs, they outshone their rivals, with the stars of Logan and Stark burning brightest of all.

Perversely, Edinburgh had begun brightly enough with a Derrick Patterson try, converted by Duncan Hodge. Every threequarter had handled before the move seemed to run out of steam on the touchline and Patterson burst through at pace for the touchdown.

A penalty and a try from Calum MacGregor gave Glasgow a slender lead before a Hodge penalty let Edinburgh nose in front. MacGregor failed with a simple penalty attempt before making amends with a drop goal a minute later, and Stark's try - off Logan's break at pace - handed Glasgow a 16-10 interval lead.

Sloppy handling and a barrowload of turnovers conspired to thwart Edinburgh attempts to force their way back into the match before Logan picked up a speculative Stark pass to streak in for a try which he also converted.

After an hour, Hodge had a penalty goal which kept Edinburgh in the hunt, but it was never going to be enough. Edinburgh had been comprehensively outplayed and the Inter-city cup was handed over to Glasgow captain Gordon Bulloch by SRU president Fred McLeod.

More important than the silverware, though, were those twin attributes, self-respect and self-belief. Those were the most important commodities which Glasgow took with them from Murrayfield yesterday.

SCORERS: Edinburgh - Patterson 1t; Hodge 2p, 1c. Glasgow - Logan 1t, 1c; Stark 1t; MacGregor 1t, 1p, 1dg.

Edinburgh - Lee (Watsonians); Gilmour (Heriot's FP), Hastings, captain, (Watsonians), Craig (Currie), Reed (Boroughmuir); Hodge (Watsonians), Patterson (Heriot's FP); McNulty (Boroughmuir), Ellis (Currie), Stewart (Edinburgh Academicals), Burns (Boroughmuir), Lucking, Ward (both Currie), Reid (Boroughmuir), Dall (Heriot's FP). Replacement - Binnie (Heriot's FP) for McNulty (78min).

Glasgow - Logan (Stirling County); Stark (Melrose), A Bulloch (West of Scotland), Garry (Watsonians), Metcalfe; MacGregor (both Glasgow Academicals), Stott (West of Scotland); McIlwham (GHK), G Bulloch (West of Scotland), captain, Robertson (Stirling County), Munro (GHK), Begley (Glasgow Academicals), F Wallace (GHK), McLeish (West of Scotland), M Wallace (GHK). Replacement - Sangster (Stirling County) for A Bulloch (21).

Referee - K McCartney (Hawick).