Johnnie Beattie scored one of Glasgow's three tries in the win over Dragons
Glasgow (24) 29 Tries: Dewey, Beattie, Thomson Cons: Jackson Pens: Jackson 3, Gregor Dragons (19) 25 Tries: Sidoli, Harris, Gomer-Davies Cons: Connor, Tovey Pens: Connor, Arlidge
Glasgow survived a spirited fightback before winning their Heineken Cup clash against Dragons at Firhill.
Rob Dewey gave Warriors the perfect start with a try within two minutes after a mistake by Tom Willis.
The hosts added another try through Johnnie Beattie before Rob Sidoli replied for Dragons as both sides charged down loose kicks.
Despite falling behind after the break, Warriors secured their second win in six attempts against the Dragons.
Warriors head coach Sean Lineen, with an eye on his side's Magners League campaign, rested six of his Scotland internationals.
But the hosts bared their teeth within the opening two minutes, scrum-half Colin Gregor pouncing on Willis's lineout throw before feeding Bernardo Stortoni and his pass found Dewey to score under the posts.
Ruaridh Jackson, in his first start at stand-off this season in the absence of Dan Parks, converted.
Beattie extended Glasgow's lead three minutes later when he charged down a loose kick by Danny Lee but Jackson could not convert.
The visitors hit back when Sidoli showed similar cunning to score after blocking Gregor's clearance and he gathered and crossed the line to score.
Penalties by Jackson and Gregor extended Warriors' lead, but Dragons replied with a James Harris try despite appeals that he profited from a forward pass; and Connor converted.
Centre Rhodri Gomer-Davies scored the visitors' third try as he seized upon defensive slackness as the Dragons threatened to overrun the wilting Warriors before a Jackson penalty gave Glasgow some breathing space.
The Dragons looked the more threatening side for long spells after the break and penalties from Shaun Connor and James Arlidge saw them take the lead.
However, Warriors would not be denied and scored their winning try after Parks's monster kick found the Welsh 22.
The visitors failed to clear from the lineout and hooker Fergus Thomson scored the winning try to halt a run of four losses in five meetings against Dragons.
Glasgow cannot qualify for the quarter-finals but retain hope of making the Amlin Challenge Cup.
Warriors coach Sean Lineen: "All we've got to keep doing is winning. Some of the guys showed up well and some didn't.
"It's always good to beat the Dragons and we'll keep that in the closet for the next time we play them here at Firhill.
"We gave them their tries and that's the really frustrating thing.
"We put together a few things but the game just deteriorated as it went on and there was just a real arm-wrestle at the end."
Dragons boss Paul Turner:
"We had a horrendous start and gifted 12 points which is probably typical of us. We had a mountain to climb and then we climbed it back and the second half was all about the Dragons.
"We all-but scored three or four tries, never got over the line and then the game ended with an overlap where we didn't pass and we'd have won the game.
"So a hugely frustrating night. There was no such thing as offside, which wasn't judged by the referee or his two officials so it made it a little bit of a lottery in that department.
"We made too many basic errors, but there was only one side in it in the second half and that was the Dragons and we just couldn't nail that try.
"And we gave them a soft try. We've given 17 soft points away, three tries and a conversion so I'm pretty frustrated."
Glasgow: Stortoni, van der Merwe, M. Evans, Dewey, T. Evans, Jackson, Gregor, Welsh, Thomson, Kalman, Gray, Turner, Forrester, Brown, Beattie. Replacements: Murchie for T. Evans (41), Parks for Jackson (50), McMillan for Gregor (50), Va'a for Welsh (74), Tkachuk for Kalman (56), Barker for Turner (64), Eddie for Forrester (70).
Not Used: McCall.
Dragons: Tovey, Brew, Gomer-Davies, Riley, Fussell, Connor, Lee, Gustafson, Willis, Robinson, Sidoli, Charteris, Lydiate, Harris, L. Evans. Replacements: M. Thomas for Tovey (59), Arlidge for Connor (52), Leadbeater for Lee (66), S. Jones for Willis (46), MacDonald for Sidoli (70).
Bookmark with:
What are these?