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Glasgow win Ospreys thriller to keep Champions Cup hopes alive
By PA
Sharpshooter Ross Thompson fired 15 points to keep Glasgow’s Champions Cup hopes alive as they edged out Ospreys 30-25 at Scotstoun.
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The Welsh region started the night 10 points ahead of Danny Wilson’s team but Warriors will cling to the hope they can still hunt their third-placed rivals down after slashing their lead by three, with a top-three finish expected to be enough to qualify.
Toby Booth’s Swansea-based outfit now round off the regular season with a trip to Dublin to face reigning PRO14 champions Leinster.
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Glasgow still have to play both Dragons and Benetton but know two victories may still not be enough.
Thompson was the coolest man on the pitch as he fired three penalties and a hat-trick of conversions in another hugely impressive display from the 21-year-old.
Lee Jones, Rufus McLean and Aki Seiuli also crossed the try-line for Glasgow, with Ospreys responding through Morgan Morris and Gareth Evans either side of a penalty try.
But it is the losing bonus point which could yet come in most handy for Booth’s side.
Ospreys’ only previous Scotstoun win was back in November 2016 and it looked like they were on course for another four minutes in as they won the first penalty, booted to the corner then launched a savage maul attack, with Morris smashing his way over.
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Worse was to come for Glasgow on the quarter-hour mark as they found themselves overstretched again, with referee Sam Grove-White producing a double whammy as he awarded a penalty try as well as sin-binning Ollie Smith for a deliberate knock-on as Dewi Cross threatened in the far corner.
With his side 12 points down, Wilson could only shake his head in disbelief. But three Thompson penalties – countered by a solitary Luke Price kick – ensured Glasgow went in just six points down at the interval.
And they were in front within four minutes of the restart as Smith made amends for his earlier mistake to put in a vital tackle as Dan Evans looked primed to burst clear.
With the ball dislodged from the full-back’s grasp, Ospreys were left defenceless as Jones pinned his ears back and darted the length of the field to score a sensational solo effort, with Thompson’s conversion nudging Wilson’s team ahead.
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The lead lasted just four minutes as Gareth Evans powered off the base of the scrum before shunting over for a third Ospreys try.
But Thompson produced another moment of magic in the 51st minute as he measured a sublime grubber through for McLean to score before adding the extras from out wide with another effortless swing of his boot.
Seiuli then crashed through for Warriors’ third try on 62 minutes as the Ospreys maul defence splintered, with another Thompson beauty sealing the conversion and an eight-point lead.
It looked like there might by late drama as TJ Ioane was yellow-carded to leave Glasgow playing out the final stages a man light, but Ospreys could only muster a Price penalty as Glasgow claimed a vital win.
