1872 Cup - Glasgow v Edinburgh - match report.

Venue: Firhill, Glasgow
Attendance: 8,852

Score
Glasgow 17
Edinburgh 12

Teams
Glasgow

P Murchie
Lemi
Hogg
Morrison
Shaw
Weir
Cusiter
Welsh
Hall
Low
Gray
Kellock (c)
Harley
Fusaro
Wilson

Edinburgh

Thompson
Webster
Scott
Houston
Jones
Godman (c)
Blair
Traynor
Kelly
Gilding
Gilchrist
Turnbull
Denton
Macdonald
McInally

This was my first time watching a Rabo Direct Pro 12 game live and my first time watching the Warriors in the flesh too. And although the evening was wet and bitterly cold, the atmosphere was nothing other than always electric.

This game represented the biggest home crowd that Glasgow Warriors had achieved, setting the new home record at 8,852, and no matter what the weather threw at the fans, they remained vocal and buoyant throughout.

The team selections were strange to say the least and quite a few might have raised a few eyebrows at Glasgows decision to make 7 changes from the fixture on boxing Day between the two clubs. However, 7 changes was nothing compared to a staggering 13 changes to the Edinburgh side. With the 1872 cup at stake, the decision to make so many changes proved to be Edinburghs biggest mistake, with their set play pieces proving to be particularly shaky at times.

Straight from the Glasgow kick off, Edinburgh looked under pressure, losing possession immediately leading to an early Glasgow penalty which was converted on the 2 minute mark by Duncan Weir giving the Glasgow side an early 3-0 advantage.

Edinburgh continued to struggle in the early exchanges, losing their first line out which was to happen numerous times during the match. After a missed penalty attempt at the 6 minute mark, Edinburgh made an impression into the Glasgow half. After a bout of sustained pressure, the ref finally blew up for an incident spotted by the linesman. In fact, all night, the ref seemed to be missing incidents and making strange calls.

Anyway, Edinburgh got a penalty at the 7 minute mark, after the linesman flagged a scuffle between Moray Low and Alan MacDonald. Fortunately for the Glasgow side, Godman was unable to convert.

The game didnt really kick into life until the 12 minute mark when Colin Shaw broke away on a great run for Glasgow and in the process throwing a obvious forward pass not picked up by the ref. Fortunately for Edinburgh, another infringement took place immediately afterwards. The action seemed to stay in the middle of the field for the next few minutes before Glasgow finally got awarded another penalty from a central position, 10 metres into the Edinburgh half at the 15minute mark. Weir stepped up and missed but redeemed himself a few minutes later for a Edinburgh offside from a wider position.

Glasgow 6-0 (Weir penalty)

Edinburgh hit immediately back and after a sustained bit of pressure, Glasgow stray offside gleading to a Edinburgh penalty.

6-3 (Godman - pen).

From the restart, Edinburgh knock on leading to a scrum where Edinburghs set piece failings become apparent again. Glasgow dominated the scrums all evening and the failings at this one led to another Glasgow penalty .

9-3 (Weir - pen)

A telling sign of Edinburghs tactics was revealed in the 33rd minute when they made a tactical substitution - Kelly was replaced by Walker, much to his annoyance. This change led to a renewed vigour by Edinburgh before half time which would have led to a certain try had it not been for a forward pass in the 37th minute. In the resulting play, Glasgow ran the ball out of their half only for the referee harshly to judge that Hogg had gotten up following a tackle to continue his run, which led to a disputed last minute penalty for Edinburgh. However, Godman missed another penalty attempt leaving the scoreline at 9-3 at half time.

The second half kicked off in similar fashion with Glasgow receiving the ball and immediately giving away a penalty. This time Godman made no mistake and converted with ease in the 41st minute.

9-6 (Godman - pen)

The game then had a bit of a lull with both sides exchanging possession without any real opportunities coming either way. In the 54th minute, Godman missed another penalty for a Glasgow offside before finally getting some points a few minutes later after a Warrior went off his feet in the tackle. Godman converts in the 57th minute to tie the game.

9-9 (Godman - pen)

Up until the 62nd minute, the 2nd half had been all Edinburgh. however, after a series of changes by Glasgow, which saw Barclay, Ryder, Kalman and Wight come on, the game became much more even, with Glasgow finally mounting a foray into the Edinburgh half. Although the game looked like it was possibly heading for another draw (which would have meant a series of deciding factors taken into account to determine the 1872 cup winners - Aggregate tries followed by league points followed by current holders for the record), the game changer occurred in the 67th minute.

Once again, the ref missed a major decision and was flagged by his linesman who spotted a dangerous tackle by Matt Scott on Robert Harley. Scott lifted and drove Harley to the ground in an incident reminiscent of the Sam Warburton red card for Wales in the recent World Cup. After a quick chat with the linesman, Scott was sin binned until the dying moments of the match.

From the restart, Glasgow powered on before Moray Low bundled over the line lose to the corner for a Glasgow try, the only of the game. Scott Wight missed the conversion leaving the score at 14-9 to Glasgow.

14-9 (Low try)

Moments later, in the 70th minute, Edinburgh once again gave away a penalty for going over the ball in the tackle, leading to Scott Wight converting the penalty to take Glasgow out of a single score position.

17-9 (Wight - pen)

After a series of substitions, 14 man Edinburgh tried to fight back and nearly got their rewards after a great cross field kick, brilliantly taken Lee Jones. Only a last ditch tackle prevented Jones sliding in for the try. Moments later, Glasgow won their final penalty of the evening, 10 metres into the Edinburgh half, after another infringement for diving in off their feet. The penalty was missed by White, leaving Glasgow 8 points clear in the dying seconds. Matt Scott returned to the field with a few minutes left to help Edinburgh mount one final attack.

And with the 80 minutes lapsed, Edinburgh were given a penalty right between the posts allowing them to salvage a bonus point. However, a quite remarkable lack of composure led to Edinburgh taking a quick tap and play on. Fortunately, the very last kick of the game was a drop goal that hit the upright and just crept over the right side of the post to give Edinburgh a valuable bonus point.

Final score 17-12 to Glasgow who retain the 1872 cup for another year.

So a scrappy game in parts but a few positives to be taken for Glasgow - although they didnt play well, the set pieces were excellent and they ground out a victory. for Edinburgh, there is still a lot to work on, and if Scotland are to have any realistic chance of winning the 6 Nations, they will have to build on the strength of the Glasgow defence in the main.

Congratulations to Glasgow, who get back to winning ways.

Thanks Adam. Pretty much says all that needs to be said of a dire (lack of) spectacle. As I have said elsewhere on 606v2 only Gray, Low, Welsh, Kellock and Ryder were at the races- maybe McInally and Denton put in a shift for the reds.

I thought Lee Jones played okay for Edinburgh and was unlucky not to score in the dying moments.

Well done Glasgow, I read somewhere (made up) that Scottish qualifaction for the H-cup is made up of the 1872 cup winner getting an automatic spot and the best placed Scottish team in the league, not already qualified for the 1872 cup, getting the 2nd spot!

This brings the 1872 cup, to being on a par with the LV= Cup!!!

Adam,

Jones was well in touch with a good cover tackle from Colin Shaw. I do, however, get the feeling that the TMO or whatever they are called, decided to balance the homer decisions made re the Visser tries last week at M'field and some of yesterdays - including the try !

I didnt see the Glasgow try on the replay so it was impossible to tell whether it wasnt one or not (although I am guessing not) - they dont show the replays in the ground.

Even though the referees performance was far from stellar. I seem to remember him being in a perfect position to see the grounding. Hence his question of "any reason I can't award the try" to the TMO.

Thanks GM - I was in the main stand and therefore had a poor view of the try area. Watched a few times on TV and am still not that convinced but will take a win and the 4 points.