Glasgow foiled by French

Toulouse 43 Glasgow 17

Glasgow’s hopes of mounting a European revival were wrecked by clinical Toulouse – but they earned plus marks for a plucky display.

Hugh Campbell’s troops had needed to pull off the biggest Heineken Cup upset of all time to have any chance of squeezing into the knockout stages.

However, despite a spirited performance, they were simply blown away at Stade Ernest Wallon as the Frenchmen ran in four first-half tries in machine-gun fashion.

It was Glasgow who had made the more determined start, launching a series of raids which clearly troubled the home defence.

But they found themselves three points adrift as Toulouse broke their duck during virtually their only visit into enemy territory in the opening 15-minute sparring session.

Rory Kerr displayed his tackling skills to halt winger Vincent Clerc after he had latched on to a crossfield chip by Freddy Michalak.

Then Andy Craig – recalled in place of Graeme Morrison – was guilty of failing to release the ball quickly enough in contact, giving Jean-Baptiste Elissalde a straightforward penalty chance from 40 metres, which he accepted with ease.

Glasgow responded in positive fashion, but their finishing could not match their slick lead-up work.

Scrum-half Sam Pinder raced up the narrow side to free Sean Lamont, but he could not make use of his support runners in the 22-zone.

Then a meandering charge by Lamont created space and time for Jon Petrie and Donny Macfadyen to enter the danger area, however Kenny Logan was hauled down 15 metres from the target.

There was more frustration for the Scots when Dan Parks made a clever break, only to see his feed intercepted.

Parks was back in the spotlight with another sprint to set up Logan – however the former Test hero was again blocked a few paces from the line.

The the wheels came off big-time as Toulouse clicked into gear – and the Warriors began to make fatal mistakes.

It all began to go wrong in the 19th minute when former Ireland forward Trevor Brennan was driven over following two penalty line-outs.

Then five minutes later, Glasgow made a hash of a quickly tapped penalty on the home 22-line.

The ball was hoofed downfield, where Kerr fumbled – and from the scrummage, lock Gregory Lamboley powered across.

Ellisalde slotted both conversions, leaving Glasgow wondering what had hit them.

Even worse was to come as Toulouse claimed two more scores in quick succession to effectively end the contest and seal a bonus point into the bargain.

Michalak earned the third try after a Cedric Heymans break – then 20-stone-plus breakaway Isitolo Maka brushed aside three markers with contempt to set up Elissalde’s fourth conversion.

Glasgow refused to buckle completely and they produced a fine consolation touchdown on the stroke of the interval when Lamont slid over following a dash by Craig – Parks added the goal.

Parks then slotted a penalty to give his team a fresh glimmer of hope, but Toulouse burst back to grab another try through Yan Jauzion in the wake of another interception, this time by fellow sub Emile N’Tamack.

Glasgow, who will play worse and win games, had the last word with a stoppage-time try by Macfadyen, converted by Parks.