David sole on rugby
Gutsy Glasgow tumbled out of Europe in heartbreaking style after a Scotstoun epic.
Dave Rennie’s bruised and battered troops had gone toe-totoe with the streetwise English giants, with one of their best-ever Champions Cup displays.
But they couldn’t snatch the win they needed to spark their bid to reach the knock-out stages.
Rennie admitted he was “proud and frustrated in equal measures” after the drama-packed draw.
The coach declared: “In terms of effort and courage, we were fantastic.
“But we gave away a couple of soft tries at important times. And after we got back on top near the end, we didn’t put our foot on their throats.
“The result was not what we wanted, but the performance was superb in many ways. We played a lot of good footy.
“The outcome left me as proud as I was frustrated.”
Rennie reckons a yellow card shown to co-captain Callum Gibbins in the first half had been a pivotal event.
He said: “I don’t think there was anything in it and you could see that Callum was pretty miffed.
“I had actually thought that the ref was going to send one of their guys to the bin.
“We also lost Fraser Brown to a card later on, but that was fair enough because there had been repeated infringements close to our line.”
The home fans couldn’t have imagined a more stunning start as they watched their heroes surge ahead after 60 seconds.
Veteran winger Tommy Seymour sent a perfectly-weighted lob into the danger zone, latched on to it himself and dashed over.
Adam Hastings ignored the swirling breeze to slot the wideangled conversion.
Exeter repaired some of the damage with a Joe Simmons penalty from close-range.
But the Warriors immediately clicked back into gear to set up another top-notch score.
Hastings created the time and space for Huw Jones to crash through two challenges and reach the line.
Again the Hastings strike was bang on target.
However, the grins of the crowd turned to groans, as Chiefs scrumhalf Nic White snapped up an interception and cruised in under the crossbar – giving Simmons a formality of a kick.
The frantic pace continued as the action raged from end to end.
And the high-risk tactics of the hosts nearly cost them again when Exeter almost snatched another breakaway score from a blocked Hastings chip.
The playmaker eased the jitters with a 40-metre penalty midway through the half.
Glasgow suffered a blow as skipper Callum Gibbins was yellow carded for an illegal entry to a ruck.
Predictably, Chiefs began to exert territorial pressure and they spurned the chance of three points by opting for an attacking line out.
And it was no shock when Matt Kvesic burrowed over, with Simmons’ simple conversion levelling the tussle.
The visitors looked truly in the mood, and they took the lead for the first time four minutes before the interval with another packorientated touchdown for Jacques Vermeulen.
Simmons added the extras – only for the Warriors to end the half in lethal fashion.
Hastings released George Horne with a slick offload, and the scrum-half scuttled in to give his mate an easy kick to tie it up at the end of a breathless 40 minutes.
The drama-level kept on rising and twice in quick succession Jones should have added to the Glasgow tally – but he was unable to scoop up loose balls inside the 22-area.
And Chiefs cashed in on their double reprieve by pouncing for try No. 4 in their first raid of the half – Kvesic completing his double, seconds after Warriors hooker Fraser Brown was sinbinned.
Despite the handicap, Glasgow’s reply was potent and Niko Matawalu was propelled over by his forwards – Hastings equalising from the touchline to set up a tense finale.
The next twist came when Sam Johnston thought he had added another for the home men – only for the video ref to chalk it off for a forward pass.
And in an incredible final act, ex-glasgow hero Stuart Hogg hit the bar with a remarkable 60-metre penalty.