The Ospreys leave Glasgow empty handed after a disappointing evening at Firhill that saw them suffer a first RaboDirect PRO12 defeat of the season.
A positive first half performance saw the Ospreys take a deserved nine point lead but they lost their way as Glasgow scored 22 points without reply, 13 coming during 10 second half minutes when they were reduced to 14 after replacement hooker Richard Hibbard was sinbinned.
Glasgow came racing straight out of the blocks, opening the scoring within 110 seconds through the boot of Duncan Weir after Ian Evans was penalised at the ruck area.
The Ospreys, decked in their white strip, responded well and Matthew Morgan levelled things with a penalty just five minutes later after the visitor’s scrum had overpowered their opponents.
A second scrum offence then handed Morgan another chance, albeit from a metre or two inside his own half, but the youngster made no mistake, his long-range effort putting the Ospreys in front.
Hands in the ruck from Glasgow centre Rob Dewey resulted in Morgan slotting over his third successful kick in the 16th minute, taking the score to 9-3.
With a strong wind at their backs the Ospreys were looking to play the territory game, but some nice interplay between forwards and back saw them move the ball from their own 22 right up to the Glasgow line, Richard Fussell, Duncan Jones and Eli Walker all prominent in the move, before Morgan’s grubber to the corner beat the pursuing Tommy Bowe, bouncing out of play.
Having spent most of the first half on the back foot, Glasgow did threaten after a sniping run by Chris Cusiter took them into Ospreys territory, from where it was worked wide to the left hand touchline, where Graeme Morrison’s dink to the corner bounced into touch a metre from the line as Stuart Hogg looked to get on the end of it.
Although it was an even affair with neither side really able to stamp their authority on the game, Morgan kept the scoreboard ticking over in the Ospreys favour when he made it four from four in the 32nd minute with a huge kick from 9m inside his own half after Chris Fusaro was pinged for offside.
An Ospreys offside handed Weir the chance to reduce the deficit from out on the left but his effort came back off the near upright.
He made amends with the final kick of the half though, Ian Evans penalised in the tackle.
HALF-TIME: GLASGOW 6 OSPREYS 12
Walker had to be alert early in the second half after loose hands saw Bishop knock-on, allowing Fusaro to hack the ball forward, the young wing from Gorseinon RFC managing to tidy up as Weir and Richie Gray chased the ball.
Glasgow kept up the pressure, and after Tommy Seymour had found his progress halted by a combination of Walker and Joe Bearman just short of the line an Ospreys offence was spotted, allowing Weir to bring his team back to within three points.
Dewey received a stern telling off for a deliberate knock-on as Samoan Kahn Fotuali’i looked to get the ball away from the base of a ruck moments after coming on for his debut.
As the Ospreys looked to regain control of the game, some good play saw them threaten once again, a show and go from Bowe allowing him to make some good ground, Hibbard supporting well. As the progress was halted Morgan eyed up the posts but his drop goal attempt was off target.
A high tackle brought to the referee’s attention by his assistant saw Weir make no mistake from the 10m line to level things up just short of the hour.
The Ospreys were reduced to 14 when Hibbard was pinged for entering a ruck from the side as the ref’s patience wore thin after a number of penalties conceded by the visitors.
As expected, Glasgow came straight at the Ospreys as they looked to make the most of their extra man, and Bowe had to react smartly to stop John Barclay forcing his way over from close range. The hosts kept the pressure up, working it wide to Richie Gray on the right who, according to the TMO, was able to stretch over to ground in the corner despite the best efforts of Walker, putting his side back in front. Weir added the extra, his kick going over off the left hand upright.
Missed tackle in midfield allowed Colin Shaw to scythe his way through the Ospreys defence, only for him to lose his footing with the line beckoning. However, the bad spell for the Ospreys got worse, another Weir penalty taking the lead to 10 points with 13 to go.
A long range effort from Weir, inside the Glasgow half, took the hosts further away from the Ospreys as they made the most of their extra numbers by adding 13 points while their opponents were a man light.
Patient play almost saw Glasgow creating a gap for big second row James Eddie, great covering defence from Fotuali’i and Ryan Bevington forcing him into touch just a couple of metres short.
The Ospreys tried hard to play their way back into the game but another penalty from Weir, taking his personal tally to 23 points, to take away a chance of even a losing bonus point.
It was the visitors who did secure the final score of the match tough, Morgan grabbing his first PRO12 try in the final play, receiving the ball from Fotuali’I 10m out and spotting a gap between front rowers Mike Cusack and Dougie Hall to score, before missing his conversion.