Duncan Weir try snatches win for Glasgow at the Dragons
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 25/02/16 10:40pm
Champions Glasgow remain in the hunt for the Guinness PRO12 play-offs thanks to a nervy 18-15 victory at Newport Gwent Dragons.
The Warriors climbed from eighth to fifth thanks to a two-try success at Rodney Parade, their winning score coming late on through fly-half Duncan Weir.
The spirited Dragons, meanwhile, continue to languish in 10th with just four league victories to their name and only the Italian duo of Zebre and Treviso beneath them.
The first half was a rather frantic affair with plenty of endeavour, lots of errors and two fly-halves kicking beautifully.
The Dragons were out of the blocks sharply with Angus O'Brien booting them into an early lead only for Glasgow pivot Weir to respond in the 10th minute.
Two more three-pointers saw the Dragons go into a 9-3 lead with visiting lock Greg Peterson shown a yellow card for the second offence, a body-check on O'Brien.
Weir and O'Brien traded penalties for it to be 12-6 to the hosts after half an hour and they put the squeeze on through their driving lineout in a bid for a key score approaching the break, only for the Scots to defend resolutely.
In fact, the Warriors nearly made it a three-point game with the final play only for Weir's drop goal to go wide.
But the visitors were in front for the first time just two minutes into the second half thanks to centre Alex Dunbar's powerful run on his comeback from a thigh injury, the Scotland hopeful's score converted by Weir to make it 13-12.
It was a lead that did not last long with O'Brien's fifth penalty making it 15-13 with 49 minutes on the clock.
Glasgow thought they were back in front on the hour when Reid went over by the posts only for official Gary Conway to penalise him for having been part of the ruck before picking up the ball and crossing.
Their mood worsened when Weir missed a simple penalty with 16 minutes left, although home full-back Carl Meyer was also wide with a long-range effort as the game approached the final stages.
However, Weir crossed to make it 18-15 with seven minutes left after being given a simple run-in by fellow Scotland star Josh Strauss, whose offload after a powerful charge down the right was given the all-clear by the TMO.
