Victory for Steve Tandy’s troops would have cemented second spot in the table ahead of the break for Heineken Cup action and a sixth league success of the season was on the cards for much of the match.
Jeff Hassler’s well-worked try after 16 minutes and an impressive kicking display from young fly-half Sam Davies saw them lead 13-6 at the break and another Davies three-pointer had them 10 points clear with just over 20 minutes remaining at the Liberty Stadium.
But three tries in the final 22 minutes saw Glasgow steal the victory, with Chris Cusiter, DTH Van der Merwe and Ryan Wilson all touching down to leave the Ospreys with nothing to show for their efforts.
Glasgow had welcomed back a host of internationals following last week’s shock defeat at home to the Dragons but that didn’t prevent a depleted Ospreys side from giving the former league leaders a real run for their money.
The visitors had started brightly and were ahead through a Ruaridh Jackson penalty but a loose lineout gave Tito Tebaldi free ball just inside Glasgow territory after a quarter of an hour and his backline took immediate advantage courtesy of Tom Isaacs’ firm fend on Mark Bennett. Isaacs’ impressive strength opened up a hole for right wing Hassler and the Canadian cruised home from 20 metres.
Davies sent over the testing conversion and the Ospreys were 7-3 up with just over a quarter of an hour gone. Jackson cut that lead with a second penalty from 35 metres when the Ospreys were caught offside after 22 minutes but the advantage was back up to four points just two minutes later. IRB Junior Player of the Year Davies showed his growing maturity by landing a 25 metre drop goal with his favoured left boot and the Ospreys were 10-6 to the good.
And things got better for the Ospreys before half time as Davies slotted a simple penalty to make it 13-6 with 33 minutes gone. Scotland lock Jonny Gray was the man pinged for failing to roll away and Davies made no mistake from straight in front and just 30 metres out.
The Ospreys dominated territory and possession in the initial stages of the second period and Davies made it 16-6 14 minutes after the restart following Richard Fussell’s mini break, but the game turned on a breakaway score for Cusiter four minutes later.
With the Ospreys pounding towards the tryline with pick and go after pick and go, Morgan Allen lost control under pressure and the Warriors made him pay with a stunning score. Van der Merwe set them on their way by grabbing the loose ball and two passes later Sean Lamont was racing out of the 22. The former Scarlets centre took play into the Ospreys half before feeding Cusiter, who sprinted home from 45 metres out. Jackson sent his conversion attempt skidding across the face of goal from wide on the left but his side were back in the running at 16-11 after 58 minutes.
Glasgow lost Lamont to a serious-looking injury when his right ankle buckled under the weight of James King’s tackle but they put that disappointment behind them and dominated much of the rest of the game, with Stuart Hogg landing a penalty just past the hour and Van der Merwe giving them the lead with 67 minutes gone. With Ospreys prop Scott Baldwin in the sin bin for a scrum offence, Van der Merwe cheekily snuck over down the blindside of a close-range ruck, with Jackson’s conversion leaving the Ospreys 21-16 down.
They threw everything at the Warriors late on but Gregor Townsend’s team sealed the win and robbed the Ospreys of a bonus-point when Wilson powered over with the final play.
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