Warriors scrape past Dragons

Glasgow Warriors recovered from a shaky first-half performance to scrape past Newport Gwent Dragons for their seventh Pro12 win of the season.

The Warriors trailed by three at the break after a strong showing from the Welsh province but 14 points from the boot of Duncan Weir and a penalty try after the restart was enough to seal the win.

The Warriors looked like they wanted to run early but Newport took control of the match and claimed the first points of the evening thanks to a Geraint Rhys-Jones penalty on six minutes.

But Glasgow found the perfect response and won a penalty of their own a minute later - Weir kicking over to level the scores.

The Dragons came again and looked to have found some space through the middle but couldn't capitalise and a Weir penalty found touch as Warriors exited unscathed.

However, the Welsh side looked dangerous and were moving the ball well to find gaps and they eventually forced another penalty, Rhys-Jones restoring the three-point advantage.

The home side were on the back foot but the Scotstoun crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief as Glasgow won a penalty from a Newport scrum deep in their own 22.

It could have been a turning point for the Warriors but sloppy possession meant they were struggling to break out of the disjointed start to the match.

They were level after 25 minutes however when Weir kicked his second penalty of the night but Rhys-Jones responded in kind on 30 minutes with a long kick to give the Dragons a 9-6 lead.

Glasgow were pinned back but a fantastic kick from Weir found touch and earned his team a line-out five metres from the Dragons line.

The penalties were racking up for Dragons and Richie Rees was yellow carded but the visitors' defence held firm and they took a well-deserved lead into the break.

Gregor Townsend's men responded straight from the restart, Niko Matawalu capitalising on a Dragons mistake to break away but he couldn't touch down the loose ball.

His adventurous nature was rewarded though with a five-metre scrum and they were awarded a penalty try to take an early second-half lead - Weir converting.

But no sooner as the seven points were on the board Dragons were awarded a penalty and Rhys-Jones got them within one.

The Warriors had the lead but still had no momentum with sloppy passing giving Dragons the chance to make solid progress.

They did however look the fitter of the two sides and that showed as they were able to force another penalty on the hour mark with Weir adding three to keep a perfect record for the night.

Weir had another chance from the tee with 15 minutes remaining and he didn't disappoint taking Glasgow to a 19-12 lead - albeit with a little help from the post.

With the gap at seven Dragons won a penalty on 71 minutes and Rhys-Jones kicked his 15th point of the night.

Newport pressed for the winning points but Glasgow's defence held firm and they held on to claim the points.

The scorers:

Try: Penalty try

Con: Weir

Pens: Weir 4

For Newport Gwent Dragons:

Pens: Jones 5

Teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Peter Horne, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Niko Matawalu, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Leone Nakarawa, 5 Al Kellock (captain), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Ryan Grant.

Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Josh Strauss, 20 Tyrone Holmes, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Connor Braid, 23 Richie Vernon.

Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Geraint Rhys Jones, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Ross Wardle, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Matthew Pewtner, 10 Dorian Jones, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 James Thomas, 5 Rynard Landman (captain), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Dan Way, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Brok Harris.

Replacements: 16 T. Rhys Thomas, 17 Phil Price, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Andrew Coombs, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Hallam Amos.

Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)

Assistant Referees: Lloyd Linton (Scotland), Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)