Horne hat-trick sinks the Blues

Editor

Glasgow Warriors back Peter Horne scored a hat-trick as the Pro12 playoff contenders thrashed Cardiff Blues 36-17.

In front of the biggest Scotstoun crowd of the season, Glasgow put in an incredible first 40 minutes with Dougie Hall scoring the first try of the evening. 

But that was just a platform to the Horne show, as the kicker scored a wonderful first half hat-trick to put the hosts into a 29-3 lead. 

Adam Ashe scored a fifth in the early stages of the second half, but two tries late in the half from Gareth Davies and Dan Fish ensured Cardiff had some positives to take back to Wales with them. 

The Warriors opened the scoring within four minutes, a Peter Horne penalty putting the Scotstoun side into the lead. 

That was eradicated 15 minutes into the evening thanks to Cardiff's own kicker, Gareth Anscombe scoring from range to draw Blues level. 

Horne was presented with a second kick in this early battle of the kickers, but screwed the ball left of the posts. Glasgow continued to press, and spent a good deal of time inside the Cardiff 22, eventually going over through Hall. 

It came after a prolonged spell with the ball, and the pressure told when Hall threw himself over in the left hand corner, Peter Murchie converting. That score spurred the hosts on, and within two minutes one became two. 

After Tommy Seymour broke down the left flank, quick passing allowed Horne to grab the ball and go over much to the delight of the noisy home crowd. The conversion was missed, but within two minutes Glasgow had grabbed hold of the game in a stunning spell. 

The stunning performance continued, and two tries quickly became three, with Peter Horne going over for his second in a matter of minutes. Seymour's neat offload allowed Horne to go under the posts, and after a quick check from the TMO, the number 12 converted his own effort. 

The early Glasgow dominance saw them create a 19-point gap less than half an hour in, with Cardiff unable to deal with the bombardment. They threatened to extend the lead before the break, as the Warriors continue to push for league glory. 

On the brink of half-time Cardiff's task got a deal harder, Jarrad Hoeata sent to the sin-bin, and Peter Horne made him pay in the best way possible. 

Horne secured a sensational first half hat-trick for Glasgow, grasping the bonus point in the process. That came after Finn Russell kicked right into the corner, with Glasgow breaking out and Horne converting his own effort in an incredible half for both him and his side. 

The second half continued in the same manner that the first ended, with just a couple of minutes played before a 5th Glasgow try came to compound the misery on Cardiff. Adam Ashe was able to bump off challenges from the Blues, and he too went under the posts with Russell kicking two more points, much to the delight of (most of) the 7240 in attendance. 

The Blues finally put a decent attack together following that fifth try, and peppered the Warriors back line with a series of phases as they looked to at least make the score a little more respectable, and Davies finally did that when he went over following a quickly taken penalty, going through the posts. Anscombe made no mistake with the conversion, as Cardiff made double figures. 

The Blues' revival continued with just over ten minutes to go, as Fish got their second of the night. Following neat handling from Josh Navidi and Matthew Rees, Fish was able to go over, and Anscombe's conversion got Cardiff's total for the night upto 17, impressive considering the Glasgow rout that was threatened. The result has ensured Glasgow stay top of the Pro 12, with the bonus point keeping them clear of Ulster and Munster below.

The scorers:

For Glasgow:
Tries: Hall, Horne 3, Ashe
Cons: Horne 3, Russell
Pens: Horne

For Blues:
Tries: G Davies, Fish
Cons: Anscombe 2
Pens: Anscombe
Yellow Cards: Hoeata

Glasgow: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Peter Horne, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Al Kellock (c), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Jerry Yanuyanutawa.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Ali Price, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Lee Jones

Cardiff Blues: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Tom Isaacs, 12 Garyn Smith, 11 Dan Fish, 10 Gareth Davies, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Macauley Cook, 5 Lou Reed, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Sam Hobbs.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Taufa'ao Filise, 19 Josh Turnbull, 20 Ellis Jenkins, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Simon Humberstone, 23 Richard Smith

Referee: George Clancy (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Lloyd Linton, Mike Adamson (both SRU)
TMO: Jim Yuille (SRU )