Glasgow continue 1872 Cup streak

Peter Murchie scored twice as Glasgow Warriors climbed to second in the PRO12 table with a dramatic 37-34 win over Edinburgh that also sealed them the 1872 Cup for a fifth year in a row.

In their rescheduled clash after January's fixture was washed out, the Warriors ran in three tries in the first half through Murchie, the departing Ruaridh Jackson and Mark Bennett.

WP Nel barrelled over for the visitors who struggled with ill discipline as they lost a man in each half to the sin bin but Murchie bagged a second soon after the interval to put the Warriors in control.

Edinburgh refused to buckle and Matt Scott's score brought them back into contention.

Richie Vernon looked to have sealed Glasgow victory but Tim Visser crossed twice in the last three minutes in dramatic fashion for Edinburgh who sealed two bonus points in the process but could not deny their local rivals six wins in a row in the PRO12.

Edinburgh's away form has been their undoing this season, they have only won once on their travels in the PRO12, and have not beaten Glasgow in five attempts.

And it was the hosts who made the faster start, Finn Russell slotting a fourth-minute penalty to open the scoring.

Moments later and the lead had been extended, Murchie grabbing his first try as he spun over in the right corner.

Russell missed with the extras but slotted a penalty in the 11th minute meaning the Warriors were well on top with an 11-0 lead.

But as was to prove the case throughout the game, Edinburgh were no pushovers and their response came on the quarter-hour mark as prop Nel picked and dived over from close range, Greig Laidlaw converting on his return to the side to make it 11-7.

Russell then missed a penalty for the Warriors and Laidlaw showed him how it was done to reduce their deficit to only one point at 11-10.

That just served to fire up the Warriors in front of their Scotstoun faithful however and not long before the half hour mark they had their second try, Jackson dummying and stretching to touch down in the left corner.

Edinburgh lost Izak van der Westhuizen to the sin bin as well before the interval but it looked like they had held out superbly, Laidlaw's penalty meaning it was only a three-point game.

But on the stroke of half time Glasgow had a third, centre Mark Bennett picking a great line to power over from Jackson's flat pass on the gain line and with Russell's conversion they were 23-13 in front.

After the interval Edinburgh lost another man to the bin almost immediately, this time Mike Coman the man punished after infringing at the breakdown.

The Warriors were on the hunt for a fourth try and the bonus point and they thought they had it from a driving maul but the TMO ruled it out.

That only delayed the inevitable however and Murchie had his second moments later, the fullback darting over untouched when the ball was spread right.

But Edinburgh didn't buckle and Scott powered past two would-be tacklers from close in to close the gap to 30-20 with a quarter of the match still to go.

The Warriors needed another score to seal victory and Moray Low thought he had it but it was ruled out for a forward pass, meaning it was left to Vernon to dive over after being fed by Murchie.

Finn Russell's conversion had them 37-20 up and coasting but in the 77th minute Tim Visser, after lengthy deliberation from the TMO, was awarded a try that Laidlaw converted for 37-27.

And then in the final play of the game Scott burst clear and when the ball was fed left Visser dived over for Edinburgh's fourth try, Laidlaw's conversion meaning it finished 37-34.

The scorers:

For Glasgow Warriors:

Tries: Murchie 2, Jackson, Bennett, Harley

Cons: Russell 3

Pens: Russell 2

For Edinburgh:

Tries: Nel, Scott, Leonardi, Visser

Cons: Laidlaw 4

Pens: Laidlaw 2

Teams:

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Finn Russell, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Al Kellock (captain), 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Ryan Grant.

Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Moray Low, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Richie Vernon.

Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Tom Brown, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Carl Bezuidenhout, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 Cornell Du Preez, 6 Mike Coman, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.

Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Wicus Blaauw, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Tomas Leonardi, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Sam Beard.

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

Assistant referees: Neil Paterson (Scotland), Graeme Marshall (Scotland)

TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)