A FOURTH consecutive win in the URC has taken Glasgow to within a point of leaders Ulster, but they had to fight right to the end before claiming this valuable win over Munster.
The opening stages of the game were disrupted when Rufus McLean had to leave the field for an HIA which he subsequently failed, but the Warriors were soon into their stride. Duncan Weir had the first scoring chance of the night after Munster conceded a penalty just inside their own half, but his long-range effort was just off target. The stand-off then opted to go to the corner when Glasgow got another penalty in a similar position, and when the attack off the lineout was ended by a high tackle, he made no mistake from right in front of the posts.
We had to wait more than 20 minutes from that score to the next, and when it came it went to Munster, with Ben Healy equalising through a penalty after the Warriors had been caught offside. That looked like being that before the break, but right from the kick-off the Warriors went back in front.
Scott Cummings charged down an attempted clearance from Munster scrum-half Neil Cronin, and the Scotland lock raced on to collect the loose ball and touched down. Weir converted to give his team a seven-point lead at the break.
Munster pressed hard in the opening stages of the second half, and had half a chance of a try when Cronin charged down a Weir clearance, only for the wind to carry the rebound dead.
Minutes later the Glasgow stand-off kicked out on the full, and from the subsequent attack Munster were awarded a penalty after Jack Dempsey had tackled high. Healy kicked to the corner, but Richie Gray disrupted the maul to end the danger.
Then Glasgow captain Fraser Brown was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on, but Healy missed the penalty attempt from a couple of metres inside the home half. The 14 men fought back, and when they got a penalty on the edge of the Munster 22, up stepped Weir to make it 13-3.
A Healy penalty cut the gap back to seven points a couple of minutes later with Brown still in the bin. Munster kept up the pressure even when the Warriors were back to 15 men, and inside the final 10 minutes Jean Kleyn crashed over from a couple of metres out. Healy missed the conversion to leave the score at 13-11, and Glasgow held on.
Scorers: Glasgow: Try Cummings (39) Con Weir Pens Weir (15, 60)
Munster: Try Kleyn (72) Pens Healy (38, 64)
Scoring sequence (Glasgow first): 3-0, 3-3, 8-3, 10-3 half-time, 13-3, 13-6, 13-11.
Yellow card: Glasgow: Brown (56).
Glasgow: O Smith; S Cancelliere, R Fergusson (S McDowall 65), S Johnson, R McLean (J Dobie 5); D Weir, G Horne; O Kebble, F Brown (co-captain, J Matthews 69)), S Berghan (E Pieretto 65), S Cummings, R Gray, R Wilson (co-captain, K McDonald 65)), T Gordon (A Miller 74), J Dempsey.
Substitutes: N McBeth, D Miotti.
Munster: M Haley; S Daly, C Farrell, R Scannell, S Zebo; B Healy (J Crowley 68), N Cronin (P Patterson 68); J Loughman (J Wycherley 55), D Barron (K O’Byrne 68), S Archer, J Kleyn, F Wycherley, J O'Donoghue (captain), C Cloete (J Hodnett 55), G Coombes (A Kendellen 68).
Substitutes: K O'Byrne, J Wycherley, J Ryan, C Hurley, A Kendellen, P Patterson, J Crowley, J Hodnett.
Referee: G Gnecchi (Italy).
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