24-point Thomson puts the boot into sloppy Scarlets

A MANof the match display and 24 points from fly-half Brandon Thomson saw Warriors home despite having only 14-men.

This spicy affair was heated up by a contentious red-card for loosehead Alex Allen in the 18th minute for a shoulder-tohead tackle on international Jake Ball.

The win ends a fivegame Glasgow drought against dating back to April 2016 and reinforces their position at the helm of Conference A.

South African agegrade international Thomson said: “We've been working hard on kicking out-of-hand and profited from that extra training.

“Rather than being worried when we went down to 14, the boys knew they had to step-up and we did pretty good.”

Scarlets playmaker Rhys Patchell got an early score after a collapsed scrum but Glasgow were in the ascendancy and Thomson levelled.

In the 18th minute, the -based side put together six quick phases before lock Ball was takenoffwith a head injury while Allen was sent off, but crucially Thomson's boot got the next score.

Ball's replacement Lewis Rawlins then escaped a dubious tackle in the air on centre Stafford McDowall, but in the 27th minute, as the Welsh-side struggled to defend their try-line, he was sin-binned for a cynical tackle.

At the restart, Thomson sold a cheeky dummy and crossed the white-wash. The away-side were denied a golden chance when Patchell tripped over team-mate prop Rob Evans before another bit of class by Patchell sent No.8 Uzair Cassiem just a fraction short.

MATCH STATS…

But the recycled ball was turned over with Glasgow wing Niko Matawalu breaking clear before being pushed into touch.

After half-time Glasgow upped a gear. A turnover from a Scarlets lineout and a kick-chase by fullback Ruaridh Jackson landed perfectly for centre Nick Grigg to run over.

Thomson added sixpoint with the boot and Scarlets got a second sinbinning when replacement Tom Phillips shoulder connected with Warriors lock Tim Swinson's head.

Skipper Jonathan Davies' interception and break went cross-field for Steff Evans to score and replacement Clayton Blommetjies finished a beautiful passage of play but any come-back was thwarted by a late Thomson penalty.

Scarlets coach said: “They thoroughly deserved their victory. Glasgow were winning the contact area through body position and desire. We weren't that accurate and they punished us.

“It's very disappointing, our discipline let us down with 16 penalties. We're very disappointed with our form on the road, that has to change.

TEAMS

GLASGOW: Jackson 8, Nairn 7, Grigg 9, McDowall 6, Matawalu 9, Thomson 9, G Horne 7 (Frisby 67, 5); Allan 4, Turner 7 (Bryce 76, 5), Rae 9 (Halanukonuka 51, 6), Swinson 8 (McDonald 67-77, 5), Cummings 6, M Smith 6 (Kebble 18, 7), Fusaro 8 (Tameilau 70, 5), Ashe 7. Not used: Kelly, Tagive

SCARLETS: McNicholl 5, Prydie 6 (Blommetjies 64, 7), J Davies 8, Fonotia 6 (Asquith 62, 6), S Evans 9, Patchell 8, Hardy 6 (Hidalgo- Clyne 62, 7); R Evans 5 (W Jones 52, 6), Elias 7 (Hughes 59, 6), Kruger 5 (Gardiner 66, 6), Ball 5 (Rawlins 18, 5), Cummins 6, Boyde 6, D Davies 6 (Phillips 59, 6), Cassiem 7

REFEREE: Frank Murphy

ATTENDANCE: 7,351

Star man

Brandon Thomson – Glasgow