View Article
DAN'S THE MAN
Glasgow: 23 Edinburgh: 14
As Dan Parks steered Glasgow to an excellent win at Firhill, securing the 1872 Challenge Cup on aggregate for the home side, he reminded one of former Edinburgh cult hero, the great Brendan Laney. Both gentlemen could boss a game at this level in some style, yet both seemed to find it difficult to cope with the increased pace of international rugby. And both have not been flavour of the month at the opposite end of the M8, in part perhaps because of their Antipodean roots. No-one seemed too fussed about that sort of thing when Glasgow coach, Sean Lineen, burst on to the scene nearly 20 years ago, one of many key performers in the legendary Scotland Grand Slam side of 1990.
Dan was at it again this weekend, notching a full house and making it half way to another as he scored all of Glasgow's points. For Edinburgh, Andy "Turny" Turnbull's first half try and three penalties from Phil "Godders" Godman were not enough to secure even a losing bonus point.
So the traditional end of term deflation continues. Leinster will surely be looking forward to wrapping up the Magnersleague title when they visit Murrayfield next weekend.
In a game that saw the lead change hands no less than seven times, it had all started so well for the visitors. Ben Cairns, who just gets better and better, beat two defenders and set Turnbull on his way for an unconverted try on four minutes. But Parks hit back quickly, nipping through a gap for his first touchdown. The conversion saw Glasgow take the lead.
Then Cairns came close, only for his offload to go forward inches from the line. Godman regained the lead for Edinburgh just short of the hour, with a well-taken penalty from distance. Godders knocked over a second following a Parks dropped goal to leave Edinburgh 11-10 ahead at the break.
The penalty ping pong continued in the second half, with Parks and Godman exchanging three pointers, leaving Edinburgh still a point ahead going into the last quarter of an hour. And it was Parks who started the move that ended with a converted try by himself with ten minutes left. The six point lead became nine as the Glasgow playmaker hit a second drop for the 23-14 win.
As at the Blues game, Edinburgh lost this game in the back row. The loss of Rennie pre-match was a blow in that regard, but once again they came off second best to a team boasting a class 7. As a result, Parks had all the time in the world to run the game. And he delivered.
Scorers:
Glasgow: Parks 2T 2C 1P 1DG
Edinburgh: Turnbull 1T, Godman 3P
Teams:
Glasgow: Stortoni, M Evans, Morrison, Henderson (Barrow, 62), T Evans, Parks, Gregor, Va'a (Kalman, 62), Thomson, (Hall, 62), Low, Palepoi Newman, 65), Turner, Brown (Fa'atau, 65), Beattie, Barclay.
Edinburgh: Hugo, S Webster, Cairns, Houston, Turnbull (MacRae, 40), Godman (D Blair, 71), M Blair (Meyer, 65), Kerr, Ford (Kelly, 60), Smith, (Alori, 32), Mustchin, Gissing, A Hogg, Callam, MacDonald (Newlands, 72).
Referee: D Changleng (Galashiels)
Martin Bell
