Rugby Match Reports

Glasgow edge out Reivers

Glasgow fly-half Dan Parks held his nerve as the visitors grabbed a dramatic injury-time victory over Borders in a Netherdale mudbath.

Sean Lineen´s men looked to be heading for defeat after the Borders went six points ahead in the dying minutes.

However, replacement Colin Gregor plunged over for a try in the corner to reduce the deficit to a single point four minutes into stoppage time.

And Parks was the Warriors hero when he slotted a stunning conversion to give his side the glory and put them in pole position for a Heineken Cup slot next season.

Glasgow, aiming to build on last week´s morale-boosting win over Edinburgh, were caught cold as their rivals came bursting out the blocks to open up a nine-point lead.

After two minutes, the visitors´ forwards were penalised at a ruck and Calum MacRae slotted the kick.

MacRae missed a second opportunity soon after but atoned by doubling the lead following an infringement by Andy Henderson.

The Glasgow centre sinned again in the 15th minute with a blatant punch on Nick De Luca and MacRae completed a hat-trick of penalties.

However, rampant Reivers were halted in their tracks when Parks bisected the posts after Steve Jones failed to release the ball in the tackle.

The points seemed to settle the Warriors while the Borders were rocked on 26 minutes when Simon Danielli was stretchered off.

It looked a savage blow for the Scotland winger who was making his first appearance after recovering from a fractured cheekbone sustained six weeks ago.

Danielli was able to resume briefly after treatment but failed to appear for the second half.

Things appeared even gloomier for the Borders when Glasgow notched the first try of the game after 33 minutes when Henderson´s break made room for Hefin O´Hare to steam over on the right flank.

Parks converted to put the Warriors ahead for the first time but the Reivers reclaimed the lead deep in first-half stoppage time following yet another infringement by the visitors.

This time they were penalised for handling in the ruck and MacRae launched a monster 45-metre kick to give his men a two-point advantage.

The home full-back missed the opportunity to increase the lead on the restart with a rare wayward kick after Glasgow´s Samoan prop Justin Va´a had been sin-binned for a string of infringements.

At the other end, Parks failed to cash in when he failed to connect with a 30-metre penalty and watched in misery as the ball dribbled under the posts.

Conditions were becoming increasingly difficult in the torrential rain and howling winds and fluent rugby became almost impossible.

It looked as if the efforts of the two kickers would settle it and in the 70th minute, Parks put the Warriors ahead after the Reivers pulled down a maul.

However, with just three minutes remaining, the home side looked to have taken a decisive lead when Kelly Brown received a quick throw-in and plunged over for MacRae to convert.

Their hopes were dashed in dramatic circumstances when Gregor sped over in the corner deep in injury time and Parks held his nerve to slot the crucial winning points.