The sight of Duncan Weir landing match-winning kicks was one that Warriors fans have become accustomed to but on this occasion it was not a welcome one.
Weir, who rejoined Glasgow during the summer after three seasons at Sixways, was given a warm reception when he came on as a second half replacement and then converted wing Rufus Mclean’s second try and soon added a penalty, five points which proved to be decisive in ‘The Clashof the Warriors.’
Having beaten Connacht in a high-scoring friendly last week, Warriors knew that Glasgow would provide them with another stern challenge and so it proved.
Although the result was disappointing there were again plenty of positives for Warriors across the 28 players who got game time.
Melani Nanai played the full 80 minutes in only his second match this year and was a menace in attack and a rock in defence with a series of bone-shaking tackles.
England pair Ollie Lawrence and Ted Hill were also industrious following their return from international duty with Lawrence powering over for a first half try.
Former England scrum-half Willi Heinz also got a try on his first appearance for Warriors and when Nani went over early in the second half, after Will Chudley had bounced out of a tackle and delivered the scoring pass, Warriors had a nine points lead.
But Glasgow hit back with 17 points unanswered in a 13 minutes period which decided the game and although Billy Searle landed a late penalty to keep Warriors in the hunt, time ran out on the push for victory.
Glasgow took the lead after seven minutes when fly-half Ross Thompson landed a straightforward penalty but most of the first half belonged to Warriors.
After several near-misses, when a pass either went to ground or the ball did not come back cleanly, Warriors’ patience was rewarded with a try from Heinz after Hill retrieved an attack that appeared to have broken down and popped an inside pass to the scrum-half.
Owen Williams levered over the conversion from the left-hand touchline and Warriors doubled their lead five minutes later.
Matt Garvey charged down a clearance kick, followed up to put Glasgow under pressure at the tackle and when they ball was ripped back Warriors moved the ball quickly left where Lawrence powered over for the try which Williams again improved.
Against the run of play Glasgow pulled a try back with an interception effort from halfway by wing McLean.
Warriors appeared to have created another promising attacking position for themselves but McLean nipped in raced away to score under the posts and leave Thompson with an easy conversion.
When Chudley, who replaced Heinz at half-time, set up Nanai with almost his first touch of the ball, Warriors looked like securing a second win against United Rugby Championship opposition ahead of the start of the new Gallagher Premiership season.
But Glasgow number eight Ryan Wilson drove over from a series of close range attacks and Thompson added the conversion before he was replaced by Weir.
McLean’s second try, when the wing gathered a crossfield kick and slipped out of a tackle, was improved by Weir who then added a penalty five minutes later to ensure that Warriors needed two scores to claim the trophy that was specially produced for the occasion.
Warriors lost centres Francois Venter, Ashley Beck and loosehead prop Lewis Holsey with injuries during a fast and entertaining contest but, with more important games to come, the medical staff were taking no risks with their welfare.
Warriors | 15 Melani Nanai, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Ollie Lawrence (Morris 61), 12 Francois Venter (Beck 10) (Shillcock 68), 11 Harri Doel (Humphreys 59), 10 Owen Williams (Searle 61), 9 Willi Heinz (CC) (Chudley 41), 1 Ethan Waller (Holsey 69) (Monks 74), 2 Scott Baldwin (Kvesic 61), 3 Christian Judge (Tyack 61), 4 Matt Garvey (Annett 55), 5 Justin Clegg (Kitchener 69), 6 Ted Hill (CC), 7 Sam Lewis, 8 Kyle Hatherell (Montgomery 75).
Replacements | Niall Annett, Lewis Holsey, Jay Tyack, Graham Kitchener, James Scott, Morgan Monks, Caleb Montgomery, Matt Kvesic, Will Chudley, Billy Searle, Tom Howe, Ashley Beck, Oli Morris, Perry Humphreys, Jamie Shillcock.
Timeline
7m | Thompson pen 0-3
24m | Heinz try 5-3
25m | Williams con 7-3
29m | Lawrence try 12-3
30m | Williams con 14-3
34m | McLean try 14-8
35m | Thompson con 14-10
42m | Nanai try 19-10
50m | Wilson try 19-15
51m | Thompson con 19-17
58m | Mclean try 19-22
59m | Weir con 19-24
63m | Weir pen 19-27
79m | Searle pen 22-27