Glasgow edge out Zebre

Editor

Glasgow held off a determined Zebre effort before claiming a 22-19 victory in their PRO12 encounter in Glasgow on Friday

Glasgow held off a determined Zebre effort before claiming a 22-19 victory in their PRO12 encounter in Glasgow on Friday.

The home side battled hard to come back from an early deficit and see off a resolute Zebre outfit.

The visitors began brightly and raced into a 13-0 lead as Luciano Orquera and Gonzalo Garcia both slotted over early penalties and the fly-half Orquera strolled over untouched under the posts for the game's opening try after a great run from Leonardo Sarto.

The hosts got back into the match midway through the first half though, when Ruaridh Jackson's up and under wasn't dealt with and lock Tim Swinson got to the ball first to touch it down in the in-goal area after it had been hacked ahead.

Orquera did add another penalty for Zebre but the Italians didn't help themselves by having both flankers, Filippo Cristiano and Mauro Bergamasco, sinbinned in quick succession.

And Glasgow took full advantage as a good drive in the scrum allowed DTH van der Merwe to go over in the left-hand corner and the wing then set up Graeme Morrison to score in the same corner and give the home side a 19-16 lead at the break.

Orquera levelled things up with another three points early in the second half as the visitors went in search of their first ever win but the Warriors were desperate not to become their inaugural scalp and the game turned into a tense affair.

Jackson missed the chance to edge the hosts in front just after the hour mark but replacement Pete Horne was more successful with a little under ten minutes left on the clock.

Zebre battled hard in response but full-back Daniel Halangahu badly shanked their final attempt at goal with a few minutes remaining and Glasgow held on to record a hard-fought win and leave their opponents still winless at the foot of the table.

The scorers:

For Glasgow:
Tries: Swinson, van der Merwe, Morrison
Cons: Jackson 2
Pen: Horne

For Zebre:
Try: Orquera
Con: Orquera
Pens: Orquera 4

Glasgow: 15 Fraser Thomson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Byron McGuigan, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Sean Kennedy, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Chris Fusaro (c), 6 Angus Macdonald, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Finlay Gillies, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Ofa Fainga'anuku, 18 Moray Low, 19 James Eddie, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Stuart Hogg.

Zebre: 15 Daniel Halangahu, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Gonzalo Garcia (capt), 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Alberto Chillon, 8 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Filippo Cristiano, 5 Michael Van Vuren, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Luca Redolfini, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Andrea Mancini, 17 Carlo Fazzari, 18 Andrea De Marchi, 19 Emiliano Caffini, 20 Nicola Belardo, 21 Luca Martinelli, 22 Paolo Buso, 23 Samuele Pace.

Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)