Three second half tries steered Cardiff Blues to a morale boosting first away win of the Magners League season as they laid low league leaders Glasgow Warriors 30-7 at Hughenden.
Having only picked up one point on the road in the current league campaign it was a much needed victory that moved the eighth placed Blues to within eight points of the top of the table.
The boot of Ben Blair gave the visitors a 9-0 interval lead as he landed three penalties against a Warriors outfit lacking a number of their Scottish internationals. The home side lost former Welsh rugby league international Hefin O’Hare to the sin-bin just before the break and while he was off the field Welsh scrum half Gareth Cooper raced over for the Blues first try.
Blair added the extras and then improved Casey Laulala’s 54th minute try to extend the lead to 23 points. A third try from Wales wing Tom James on the hour, once again converted by Blair to hoist his match tally to 15 points, raised the prospect of a bonus point as well as a win, but the Warriors stood firm and actually ended the game on a high.
Centre Max Evans, a try scorer for Scotland against Wales at the Millennium Stadium last weekend, grabbed a consolation score on the stroke of time. Colin Gregor converted, but it wasn’t enough to stop the home side slipping to their biggest defeat of the season and their first in seven league games.
Scorers: Glasgow Warriors: Try: M Evans; Con: C Gregor.
Cardiff Blues: Tries: G Cooper, C Laulala, T James; Cons: B Blair 3; Pens: B Blair 3.
