Northampton put their dismal Zurich Premiership form behind them to get their
Heineken Cup campaign off to a winning start in horrendous conditions at
Hughenden.
England winger Ben Cohen's early try proved to be the difference between the
sides in a match that only went ahead after a heroic mopping up exercise by
Glasgow management and fans in the wake of an overnight monsoon which left the
ground like a gluepot.
Saints adapted immediately to the conditions and they surged ahead during
their first raid.
Prop Chris Budgen did the initial damage by leaving centres Graeme Morrison
and Andy Henderson wallowing in the mud.
Marc Stcherbina acted as the link to send Cohen cruising over, with Shane
Drahm adding the tricky conversion.
Budgen was back in the spotlight when a Parks clearance took a wild rebound
off his head - leaving home full-back Rory Kerr in a straight race with Chris
Hyndman for the vital touch.
Kerr got there first - but was forced to carry the ball over his own line,
handing the initiative back to Saints.
They couldn't capitalise, however, and two minutes later they were reduced to
14 men when flanker Darren Fox was sent to the sin-bin by French referee Eric
Darriere for throwing a punch.
Glasgow mounted a series of attacks, but their finishing could not match their
promising lead-up work.
Gordon Bulloch, Sam Pinder and Andy Hall made darts for the target, only to be
blocked short.
They did not go back totally empty handed, however, as Dan Parks clipped over
a close-range penalty to get them off the mark.
Pinder then underlined his defensive talents by hauling down dangerman Cohen
as he threatened to break through again.
There was a further let-off for the home side when a Drahm penalty crashed
back off the crossbar - and within two minutes, Parks collected three more
points at the other end to narrow the gap to just one at the break.
The untidy action continued after the restart with both teams - and the
referee - making mistakes galore.
Northampton began to step up the pace and they seized the initiative with a
straightforward Drahm penalty after Glasgow were guilty of not rolling clear of
the tackle scene.
There was another double-blow for the Warriors three minutes later. Opensider
Donny Macfadyen was yellow carded for killing the ball on the ground - and Drahm
was on target again.
Parks completed his treble to keep the Warriors in the hunt, but they never
looked like stealing the glory.
Teams:
Glasgow: Kerr, Lamont, Morrison, Henderson, Logan, Parks,
Pinder, Tckachuk, Bulloch, Harrison, Hall, Turner, Mather,
MacFadyen, Petrie.
Replacements: Howarth for Kerr (72), Beveridge for Pinder (72),
Kelly for Harrison (72), Wilson for Hall (75).
Not Used: Lawson, Beattie, Craig.
Pens: Parks 3.
Northampton: Reihana, Rudd, Stcherbina, Hyndman, Cohen, Drahm,
Robinson, Budgen, Richmond, Kempson, Lord, Browne, Fox, Krige,
Blowers.
Replacements: Human for Rudd (55), Sturgess for Budgen (80),
Seely for Blowers (78).
Not Used: van Wyk, O'Donoghue, Howard, Vilk.
Tries: Cohen.
Cons: Drahm. Pens: Drahm 2.
Att: 2,772
Ref: Eric Darriere (France).
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