Glasgow 39 Connacht 21
In-form Glasgow maintained their title credentials, winning the battle at Scotstoun to post their fourth successive Guinness Pro 12 victory on the trot.
A hard-working Connacht outfit posting three tries to keep within a score of the Scots, but in the end the home side put Connacht under pressure with their power and pace to delivered a five-try bonus.
The home side led17-7 at the break after taking full advantage of the strong wind. Putting Connacht under pressure through Duncan Weir's kicking and the ability of their pack to disrupt Connacht's line-out. Super defence from Danie Poolman and Ian Porter prevented a 13th minute touchdown, but Glasgow took charge of the scrum.
Three successive penalties ensued and with the Scots on the front foot, lock Tim Swinson broke and Stuart Hogg escaped the cover to touch down in the left corner, with Weir adding the extras.
Windy conditions
With the wind making it difficult for Connacht to gain territorial control, Jack Carty provided the spark, setting up camp inside the Glasgow half with a super break. It was his chip that ricocheted off the covering defence that allowed Dave McSharry to grab Connacht's opening try, which Ian Porter converted.
A Weir penalty kept the Scots’ noses in front before they were gifted a try just before the break when Darragh Leader’s attempted clearance was blocked and scrumhalf Henry Pyrgos won the race to the line. Weir’s conversion put Glasgow 17-7 in front.
It did not improve after the break for Connacht. Content to pound the Connacht line, they found space out wide with Sean Lamont putting Stuart Hogg away for the third try.
Connacht finally gained momentum through two penalties kicked to touch, and they made it count when Carty skipped Henshaw and Fionn Carr for Leader to dive over. Carty added the touch-line conversion to bring Connacht back within a score. However the try-scoring hero provided Glasgow with opportunity to counter-attack from a knock-on immediately afterwards, and Swinson supplied DTH van der Merwe who finished off under the posts for the fourth try and bonus point which Weir converted.
Again Connacht responded and when Glasgow were penalised at the breakdown, they were steamrolled from Connacht's scrum, ensuring referee awarded a penalty try, and Porter converted to bring them back within bonus point territory. Glasgow's ability to put Connacht under pressure paid off. After a 71st minute penalty, they crowned their display with a Mark Bennett's intercept try.
Glasgow Warriors: S Hogg, S Lamont, M Bennett, J Downey, DTH van der Merwe, D Weir, H Pyrgos, G Reid, P MacArthury, E Murray, T Swinson, Al Kellock (cpt), R Harley, C Fusaro, A Ashe. Replacements: T Ryder for Kellock (47m), Rossouw de Klerk for Murray (58m), E James for Harley (64m), K Bryce for MacArthur, J Yanuyanutawa for Reid (67m), F Russell for Downey (68m), M McConnell for Pyrgos (76m).
Connacht: D Leader, D Poolman, R Henshaw, D McSharry, M Healy, J Carty, I Porter, D Buckley, D Heffernan, R Ah You, M Swift, A Muldowney, J Muldoon (cpt), E McKeon, G Naoupu. Replacements: F Carr for Healy (ht), M Kearney for Swift (ht), C Ronaldson for McSharry (52m), N White for Ah You and R Loughney for Buckley (58m), Q Roux for McKeon (67m), J Cooney for Porter (72m), S Delahunt for Heffernan (76m). Referee: Claudio Blessano (Italty).
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