Hat-trick hero Peter Horne fired Glasgow Warriors to an emphatic 36-17 victory over Cardiff Blues as the Scottish side tightened their grip on top spot in the GUINNESS PRO12. Warriors had already secured the bonus point by the interval with Dougie Hall putting Glasgow ahead after Horne and Anscombe had converted early penalties. Warriors have not suffered a league defeat at Scotstoun since November 2013 and Horne ensured that run continued by following up Hall’s score with a first-half hat-trick. Adam Ashe’s first try for Warriors extended their lead and while Gareth Davies and Dan Fish went over to give Cardiff hope the damage had already been done. Al Kellock led Warriors out on an emotional occasion for the lock after both he and Hall announced they would retire at the end of the season. Warriors were ahead after five minutes when they won a penalty from the scrum and Horne chose to kick for the early lead. But Blues got back on level terms through the foot of Anscombe after the Welsh side forced a penalty just inside the Glasgow half. Warriors then piled on the pressure and their persistence was rewarded when Hall went over for the first try of the game, which Horne converted to make the score 10-3. This seemed to open the floodgates and Warriors extended their lead just moments later after a brilliant break by Tommy Seymour who laid the ball off for Peter Murchie to feed Horne for the try. And despite missing the conversion Horne was on the scoresheet shortly after when he gathered another fantastic offload from Seymour and went over for his second try of the game. Blues paid for their indiscipline when Jarrad Hoeata was sin binned for a high challenge as the game approached half-time. Finn Russell kicked for the corner and when the ball found its way to Horne he broke free to secure his hat-trick and the bonus point. Glasgow didn’t wait long after the break to extend their lead with Russell setting up Ashe for his first try in a Warriors’ shirt. This was the signal for Horne to be replaced and as he left the field to a standing ovation Russell stepped up to covert the try leaving the score 36-3. But Cardiff responded with their first try of the game after a quick tap penalty from Fish freed Davies to go over. Anscombe converted to make the score 36-10 and Fish went over just moments later for Blues’ second try. But the Welsh side paid for their first-half performance and missed the chance to leapfrog Newport Gwent Dragons into ninth place. Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12
