Glasgow brought a raw-boned uncompromising approach to the game, which began 15 minutes late due to heavy traffic on the M4, and pulled themselves back into the game in the early stages of the second half when hooker Fergus Thomson dived over in the corner.
Ospreys fly half Dan Bigger nudged 2006-07 league champions further ahead with a penalty to give the home side a 10-5 lead.
The arm wrestle continued until the 54th minute when Hook’s moment of magic lit up the evening. He exploded from a ruck near half way, ran blind and escaped the clutches of second row Alastair Kellock. He then chipped Dan Parks with his left foot and dived on the bouncing ball in the in-goal area. Biggar’s sideline conversion put clear daylight between the two teams for the first time in the match.
Three minutes from time Biggar rubbed salt into the wounds when he landed a penalty to guide the Ospreys to the Grand Final.
Handling proved difficult throughout with the slippery conditions with a number of promising attacks from both sides coming to nothing with the ball carrier repeatedly losing possession in the tackle.
The first half was a real arm wrestle with no quarter asked or given. Both back rows put in sterling work at the breakdown with Wales skipper Ryan Jones and Kiwis Jerry Collins and Marty Holah going head to head with Glasgow’s Killer B’s – Beattie, Barclay and Brown.
The match wasn’t for the feint hearted but it was another Welsh wonder who got the scoreboard ticking over, albeit controversially.
Shane Williams’s dancing feet flirted with the touchline and despite the Glasgow bench rising as one, the touch judge kept his flag down and the Ospreys speedster romped home. Biggar added the extras to give the home side a 7-0 lead.
There was no love lost between the two sides with a series of heavy tackles coming in thick and fast from both sides and despite Glasgow having the best away record in the Magners League, the Scottish defence couldn’t find a way through the staunch Ospreys defence.
As the match reached its climax, the superior bench of the Ospreys began to make its presence felt to edge a titanic battle.
