Warriors grab victory by the narrowest of margins
GLASGOW 23 EDINBURGH 22
Five tries, three yellow cards, a couple of changes of lead and the reappearance of Leone Nakarawa after a lengthy injury into the bargain.
Richard Cockerill might not have been entertained by this latest instalment of the derby, but for both Glasgow fans and neutrals this was a more than satisfactory way to spend 80 minutes.
Edinburgh coach Cockerill had warned on the eve of the game that anyone seeking entertainment would be better off going to the theatre, mainly because the game between the sides at Murrayfield a fortnight earlier had been so poor.
But this one was far better all the way through, from the opening salvos which saw Glasgow seize the initiative to the final moments in which the home team just hung on for the win.
It was a deserving win, and one that means the destination of the 1872 Cup will not be decided until the third meeting of the season is held. It also produced some valuable PRO14 points for the Warriors, who are now up to fourth in Conference A after starting the evening on the bottom.
After being so dismal in the scrum two weeks ago, Glasgow were well on top in the first few set-pieces here. They went 6-0 up thanks to Ross Thompson penalties, but another from Jaco van der Walt halved the deficit.
As half-time approached Glasgow still held the advantage in most aspects of the game as well as the scoreboard, but they suffered a setback when hooker George Turner was sinbinned for an off-the-ball shoulder charge on Grant Gilchrist.
It took Edinburgh just two minutes to make the extra man count, with Jamie Farndale finishing off in the right corner after patient work through the middle.
Van der Walt converted superbly to put his team 10-6 ahead, and it would have stayed that way at the break but for a bizarre error by Nic Groom.
The Edinburgh scrum-half heard a passing train hoot, and, thinking it signalled the break, drifted back towards his own line and kicked the ball out. When the Warriors were awarded a penalty from their lineout attack, Thompson dinked over to close the gap to a single point.
Back to full strength shortly after the restart, Glasgow were soon back in front too through Matt Fagerson, with Thompson’s conversion made it 16-10.
With the momentum now firmly in their favour, the Warriors took just two minutes to score again, Turner powering over from the lineout maul. The extras from Thompson put the home side 23-10 ahead, and that should have been the sign for the Warriors to tighten the game up.
Instead, Edinburgh responded immediately, and a fine break by David Cherry from a lineout was finished off by Dean, with Mark Bennett converting.
That made it a single-score game, and Edinburgh sub Pierre Schoeman thought he had got that score minutes later, but it was ruled out for a double movement.
With five minutes left Huw Jones saw the third yellow card of the game after killing the ball, and then Eroni Sau grabbed a lifeline for the visitors when he touched down in the left corner.
But this time Van der Walt could not hit the target, leaving Glasgow a point to the good.
Thinking the Cup was to be decided on points difference rather than a third meeting, Glasgow kept on playing when they could have kicked the ball dead.
Eventually they were awarded a penalty, which Thompson missed to end the match.