Franco Smith's Glasgow break Champions Cup duck
MATCH REPORT: Fullback Josh McKay scored a vital second-half try as Glasgow Warriors bounced back from an opening match defeat to take a narrow 12-11 win over Bayonnais in the Champions Cup.
The Scottish side sat bottom of Pool Three and pointless after an opening 19-28 defeat at home to Northampton Saints.
However, a first-half try from No.8 Ally Miller was followed by McKay’s flying effort as the visitors took a one-point win.
Bayonnais’ replacement outside centre Reece Hodge had two penalty opportunities to kick the winning points but sent both efforts wide.
After a close opening, the hosts were handed an advantage when Glasgow Warriors tight-head prop Zander Fagerson was shown a yellow card for an infringement.
Bayonnais then took a 29th-minute lead as flyhalf Camille Lopez put his side ahead.
The hosts put mounting pressure on their 14-man visitors and after initially being held up moments later hooker Facundo Bosch scored the opening try at the back of a driving maul, unconverted by Lopez.
Glasgow Warriors responded on 37 minutes when the ball was played out wide for Miller who sprinted past two covering defenders to score, converted by flyhalf Ross Thompson to bring his side back to 8-7 at half-time.
With little to separate the sides Lopez took his opportunity to kick a 49th-minute penalty to give his side a four-point lead
Desperate for an away victory Glasgow Warriors were rallying metres from the try-line before playing out wide for fullback Josh McKay who, with a flying dive, was judged to have just grounded the ball by the TMO on 56 minutes.
With his side a point behind, replacement Hodge had the opportunity to hit back for Bayonnais but sent his long-range penalty wide.
The, with the clock ticking even closer to the red, Hodge went for another penalty effort from range. Despite having the distance, his kick was narrowly wide again.
Bayonnais threw everything forward late, but their Scottish visitors held on for a vital win.
Glasgow Warriors head to Exeter Chiefs in the third round of fixtures in January, while Bayonnais head to Northampton Saints.
The scorers:
For Bayonnais:
Try: Bosch
Pens: Lopez 2
For Glasgow Warriors:
Tries: Miller, McKay
Con: Thompson
Teams:
Aviron Bayonnais: 15 Tom Spring, 14 Aurélien Callandret, 13 Cheikh Tiberghien, 12 Guillaume Martocq, 11 Nadir Megdoud, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Gela Aprasidze, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Baptiste Heguy, 6 Rémi Bourdeau, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Denis Marchois, 3 Junior Tagi, 2 Facundo Bosch, 1 Swan Cormenier.
Replacements: 16 Vincent Giudicelli, 17 Matis Perchaud, 18 Tevita Tatafu, 19 Thomas Ceyte, 20 Arthur Iturria, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Thomas Dolhagaray, 23 Reece Hodge.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Ollie Smith, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 George Horne, 8 Ally Miller, 7 Tom Gordon, 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Angus Fraser, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Oli Kebble, 19 Richie Gray, 20 Max Williamson, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Ben Afshar, 23 Tom Jordan.
Referee: Adam Leal (England)
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson (England), Dan Jones (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
Source: @ChampionsCup