Benetton 20-17 Glasgow: Visitors miss late penalty as hosts win fourth straight match

Abraham Steyn, the scorer of Benetton's third try, is tackled by Adam Ashe

Replacement Brandon Thomson missed a last-minute penalty from in front of the posts as Glasgow lost their third Pro14 match in a row at Benetton.

Warriors led 14-12 at the break, Sam Johnson scoring one try and setting George Horne up for another, either side of two Dean Budd scores.

The hosts came storming back, Abraham Steyn crashing over and Tommaso Allan replying to Adam Hastings' penalty.

Glasgow had several chances to win the match, but failed to take them.

Prop Alex Allan was held up over the line and Hastings set Niko Matawalu free in the corner, but his pass was forward.

And fly-half Thomson missed the chance to earn a draw with seconds left, meaning Glasgow can now be overtaken at the top of Conference A by Munster, who play Connacht on Saturday evening.

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Benetton punish wasteful Warriors

Back-to-back defeats at the hands of rivals Edinburgh had cut Glasgow's lead over Munster at the top of Conference A to just two points.

And having made 10 changes ahead of two crucial European Champions Cup matches, an in-from, full-strength, Benetton was not the ideal test to get back on track.

Captain Budd led from the front for the Italians and epitomised their energy and belligerence. First, he bulldozed his way over after patient phase-play, before burrowing over the whitewash again after a driving maul.

In between those scores the returning Johnson side-stepped, then squeezed past the Benetton defence to get Glasgow on the board.

And at 12-7 down just before the break, the Australia-born centre showed why he was in Gregor Townsend's Scotland squad in November, before being cruelly struck by injury.

A brilliant step back inside and strong fend helped him surge through a gap, and he popped it to Horne on one of his typical support lines to go under the posts. Hastings converted and a two-point deficit at half-time seemed harsh on Benetton.

Not to be deterred they got their noses back in front after 50 minutes, number eight Steyn crashing over in the outside channel after tenacious work by his team-mates in-field.

The game swung from end-to-end and was ragged. The errors mounted and chances passed as both teams struggled to match their intent with quality. Hastings pulled Glasgow level with a penalty, but Allan responded with one of his own.

Glasgow head coach Dave Rennie cited his side's inability to take chances in both defeats by Edinburgh, and their profligacy was evident once more. Hastings should have done better with his pass to Matawalu and full-back Angelo Esposito somehow stopped Allan touching down.

But there was no excusing Thomson's skewed kick, which cost his side precious league points.

Benetton: Hayward; Esposito, Benvenuti, Morisi, Ioane; Allan, Duvenage; Quaglio, Faiva, Ferrari, Herbst, Budd, Negri, Pettinelli, Steyn.

Replacements: Baravalle, Traore, Pasquali, Ruzza, Lazzaroni, Tebaldi, McKinley, Zanon

Glasgow Warriors: Jackson; Nairn, McDowall, Johnson, Matawalu; Hastings, Horne; Bhatti, Stewart, Halanukonuka, Swinson, Cummings, Wilson, Fusaro, Ashe.

Replacements: Bryce, Allan, Rae, Harley, Smith, Frisby, Thomson, Jones