Glasgow.....................6
ACT Brumbies.........22
Glasgow were unable to prevent the ACT Brumbies from completing a clean sweep against the Scottish districts at rain-soaked Scotstoun last night.
However, despite the loss of half their Heineken Cup side to injuries and international call-ups, the home side showed few signs of inferiority complex against their more illustrious opponents, and only a late double from Craig McMullen gave the score an unrealistically comfortable look for the Australians.
Straight from the kick-off Glasgow made their attacking intentions clear with a powerful surge that earned a penalty, and although Tommy Hayes was off target the Cook Islander made no mistake when a simpler chance came in four minutes.
The visitors' response was immediate, and it took some desperate defending by Glasgow to preserve their narrow lead.
Both sides were defying the conditions with enterprising play, with Glen Metcalfe looking particularly dangerous for Glasgow. His pace kept the Aussie back-line busy and twice he was only thwarted by Brumbies' skipper Rod Kafer.
With Hayes orchestrating proceedings in midfield, the Scots looked just as capable of notching the game's first try. However, a spell of Brumbies' pressure paid off when scrum half Sam Cordingley, with the full weight of his pack behind him, breached the home defence in 33 minutes.
Hayes' second penalty restored Glasgow's lead, but ACT stepped up a gear on the resumption with a spell of relentless pressure.
Three times they rejected the chance of easy penalty points in favour of the potentially more lucrative gains of a scrummage close to the line, and the tactic paid off when centre Josh Birch found a gap to touch down under the posts. Robert Todd added an easy conversion.
Still the underdogs refused to buckle, and on the hour mark Gerry Hawkes, temporarily on for the injured Gavin Fraser, almost punished a moment of ACT hesitation when he chased Hayes' probing chip ahead.
Hayes then missed a chance to reduce the leeway when his 35 metre penalty drifted away in the strong breeze.
With time running out McMullen notched his first try when he was judged to have beaten Craig Sangster to the touchdown, and he added insult to injury with another in injury time.
Glasgow - Sangster; Fraser, Bulloch, Collins, Metcalfe; Hayes, Stott (Little); McIlwham Simmers), Docherty, Beckham (Jamieson); Norval, Perrett; F Wallace (Mackay), M Wallace(capt), Shaw (Hutton).
ACT Brumbies - Kafer(capt); Nasalio, Swan, Birch, Todd; McMullen, Cordingley; Zammit, Paul, Moore, Morahan, Harrison, Plenty, Jacques, Fenukitau.
Referee - R Duhau (France)
Played last night: England Under-21 42, New Zealand Under-21 13.
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