Parks steers Glasgow to glory

Editor

Glasgow had Dan Parks to thank after a virtuoso performance from the fly-half defeated rivals Edinburgh 23-14 at Firhill on Friday.

Glasgow had Dan Parks to thank after a virtuoso performance from the fly-half defeated rivals Edinburgh 23-14 at Firhill on Friday.

Parks claimed all of Glasgow's points, including two tries, in the success and wrecked Edinburgh's Magners League title dream in the process.

The man-of-the-match completed a complete set of scores by adding both conversions, a penalty and two snap drop-goals to kill off the capital men.

Edinburgh had made the most of the hosts' jitters by surging ahead in the fourth minute. Ben Cairns made the initial break, leaving two markers for dead, before sending Andy Turnbull over in the corner.

However, Phil Godman's wide-angled conversion dropped short off the crossbar.

Rattled Glasgow burst back immediately though, thanks to the fired-up pivot Parks.

The Edinburgh defence raced forward too fast, allowing the Scotland playmaker to dash through a half gap for a brilliant solo touchdown – adding the extra points to put his side in front.

The frantic end-to-end action continued with Cairns again underlining his pace and power to get to within a couple of paces of the target.

The centre could have claimed the glory himself, but unselfishly tried to unload the ball in contact, only for it to dribble forward.

The Gunners kept up the momentum and their efforts were rewarded in the 27th minute when Godman confidently banged over a 40-metre penalty.

But Glasgow rallied close to the interval and they snatched back the momentum as Parks landed an opportunist drop-goal.

But there was still time for Godman to repair the damage with his second penalty,
which paved the way for a tense second half.

However, there was another dose of frustration for the home troops within seconds of the restart when Parks sent his next shot at goal wide of the target.

And there was a further let-off for the Gunners as another drop-goal bid from Parks was blocked by Matt Mustchin.

The stand-off's luck then took a turn for the better three minutes later when he stroked over a penalty.

Play was still sweeping from end to end and Edinburgh instantly powered back into the attack. Godman re-entered the penalty duel with Parks and completed his treble to grab back the lead in the process.

Both sides made a spate of substitutions in their quest to rule the crucial final fifteen minutes.

And it was Glasgow who struck next with another top-notch score, thanks again to the in-form Parks.

The number ten launched the move and finished in style following great link work by John Barclay and Max Evans.

He then had the home fans on their feet by banging over the conversion to open up a six-point advantage with ten minutes left.

And even better was to come from Parks when he notched his drop-goal double to seal the win.

The scorers:

For Glasgow:
Tries: Parks 2
Con: Parks 2
Pen: Parks
Drops: Parks 2

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Turnbell
Pen: Godman 3

Glasgow: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Max Evans, 13 Graeme Morrison, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Dan Parks (c), 9 Sam Pinder, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Dan Turner, 4 Opeta Palepoi, 3 Moray Low, 2 Fergus Thomson, 1 Justin Va'a.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Ed Kalman, 18 Andy Newman, 19 James Eddie, 20 Colin Gregor, 21 Scott Barrow, 22 Lome Fa'atau.

Edinburgh: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Simon Webster, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Roland Reid, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Callam, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Ally Hogg (c), 5 Ben Gissing, 4 Matt Mustchin, 3 Craig Smith, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Augusto Allori, 18 Craig Hamilton, 19 Simon Cross, 20 Ben Meyer, 21 David Blair, 22 John Houston.

Referee: Peter Allan
Touch-judges: Graham Knox, Ronnie Dumma
TMO: Jim Yuille