The accurate boot of Brian O'Meara wrecked Glasgow's dream of launching their Celtic League campaign as the Irish side took a precious home triumph in Dublin.

The Ireland star landed a spate of brilliant kicks to knock the stuffing out of Richie Dixon's men - starting with two crucial strikes in the first five minutes.

Leinster kept up the pressure and only a series of superb tackles kept them out in the frantic first spell.

Wing Denis Hickie carved out a clear-cut chance when he chased his own kick-ahead.

But Glasgow were reprieved at the last possible moment as the alert James McLaren scrambled the ball out of play at the corner flag.

Confidence booster

McLaren was back in the spotlight as he set up the attack which led to the Scots breaking their duck via a Tommy Hayes penalty.

His strike acted as a confidence booster and Glasgow bagged the first try in the 31st minute.

Gordon Simpson did the initial damage with a fierce charge before good work by Jon Petrie and Steve Griffiths provided skipper Andy Nicol with the space to squeeze over near the corner.

The momentum was lost, however, when O'Meara completed his penalty hat-trick in the wake of a loose pass by Jon Steel in his own danger-zone.

Sparkling moves

O'Meara repeated the dose shortly afterwards when pressure by Shane Horgan and Bob Casey lured Glasgow offside near their posts.

But the Warriors finished the half with a flourish and were unlucky to have only another Hayes kick for their efforts in the wake of sparkling moves featuring McLaren and rookie centre Andy Henderson.

Leinster powered their way clear with two more quickfire O'Meara penalties, the first of which was a harsh award by Welsh referee Paul Adams, who ruled that Donnie Macfadyen had tackled dangerously.

Then came the moment the home fans were craving as full-back Girvan Dempsey crashed through for a try which O'Meara goaled to put his side 14 points clear.

Gordon D'Arcy bagged their second touchdown two minutes later to kill off the Warriors, O'Meara again converting. And he had the last word by goaling Andy Dunne's last-gasp try.

Leinster: G Dempsey, D Hickie, A Magro, S Horgan, G D'Arcy, N Spooner (or A Dunne), B O'Meara; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, P Coyle, B Casey, L Cullen, T Brennan, V Costello, K Gleeson.
Replacements: N Treston, D Blaney, L Toland, A McCullen, B Willis, A Dunne or D Quinlan, P McKenna.

Glasgow Rugby: Graeme Kiddie, Jonathan Steel, James McLaren, Andy Henderson, Rory Kerr, Tommy Hayes, Andy Nicol (capt), David Hilton, Gordon Bulloch, Lee Harrison, Steve Griffiths, Jason White, Gordon Simpson, Donnie Macfadyen, Jon Petrie.
Replacements: Gavin Scott, Cameron Blades, Nathan Ross, Gareth Flockhart, Chris Black, Jon Stuart, Ian McInroy.