Match Centre: Leinster 40-21 Glasgow

Leinster 40-21 Glasgow, Aviva Stadium
Scorecard

Leinster have inched closer to securing a berth in the Pro14 final as they defeated 14-man Glasgow in their latest Pro14 clash at Aviva Stadium.

This is Leinster's 12th win from 13 games as they have taken their tally to 60 points consolidating the top position in Conference A while Glasgow are at fifth place with 16 points.

Harry Byrne was in the thick of the things straightaway for Leinster as he got the proceedings with a converted try in the third minute. Five minutes later, it was the cross-field kick from the fly-half that resulted in the Cole Forbes sin-binned for taking out Cian Kelleher and also resulted in a penalty try for the hosts making it 14-0.

Despite down by a player temporarily, Glasgow showed a lot of character and managed to fightback with Huw Jones leading the way and Thomas Gordon dotting down. Adam Hastings kicked the conversion but their efforts went in vain as Leinster scored their third shortly.

The 38th minute saw Glasgow lose Hastings to red card for a dangerous play and the Irish regional side ensured they finished the opening half with a 28-7 lead after Scott Penny dived from close range just before the break and replacement David Hawkshaw landed the conversion.

Glasgow were relentless despite down by a player and dominated the opening exchanges in the second half scoring back to back tries in a span of 10 minutes. First it was Rufus McLean, who dotted down in the 42nd minute following an offload from Grant Stewart and it was followed by Jones' touchdown in the 50th minute. Ross Thomson's double conversion meant the teams were separated by just seven points.

The Scottish regional side had hope of finishing the game high despite down to 14-man but their hopes were dented when TJ Ioane was sin-binned in the 71st minute for a dangerous clear-out on Jimmy O’Brien leaving them another player less for the final nine minutes of the game and Leinster with tries from Luke McGrath and Kelleher sealed a 40-21 win.

Team line-up:

Leinster: O'Brien; Kelleher, J Osborne, O'Loughlin, Kearney; H Byrne, McGrath; Dooley, Cronin, Bent; Toner, Fardy; Murphy, Van der Flier, Penny.

Reserves: Sheehan, G McGrath, Clarkson, Dunne, Soroka, R Osborne, Hawkshaw, O'Reilly.

Glasgow: Smith; McLean, Jones, Johnson, Forbes; Hastings, Dobie; Kebble, Stewart, Pieretto; Gray, Nakarawa; Harley, Gordon, Wilson

Reserves: Matthews, Seiuli, Rae, Brown, Ioane, Kennedy, Thompson, Ferguson