Spark there but Leinster not firing yet

Celtic league/ Leinster 26 Glasgow 21: The evidence was clear enough. Game two and Leinster have shown signs of the embers reddening but have yet to come close to catching fire. In some corners this will be perceived as progress from the first week's shabby outing.

And it is. It is too early, perhaps, for such lofty notions as performing for the entire match in all areas but you have to be an optimist in Donnybrook these days and when all of the continuous handling, offloading and support play finally gel, Leinster could soon be in a position to equal the sum of their parts. That prospect remains exciting.

Sure the knock-ons were down, the lineouts had shaped up and the scrambling game that characterised the first run-out was nowhere to be seen - or at least was less obvious - and if the first half is largely put to the side then Leinster will have provided themselves with no small amount of reasons to keep positive for the rest of the season. They won the match and that - to invert the old coaching cliche that the performance is what matters - was more important than anything.

Crucially, the team and coach Michael Cheika have earned their first win and, somewhat hearteningly, it was at the end of the day, ground out with an in-your-face defence over the final five minutes as the Dan Parks-led Glasgow pressed for a game-winning try as they trailed 26-21.

When Cheika was asked afterwards who he thought made the most handsome contributions to the Leinster effort, he reeled off a list of backs - captain Felipe Contepomi, Kieran Lewis, Robert Kearney, Guy Easterby - but not one forward's name was mentioned.

"No point in me saying they played well if I didn't think they did," said the Australian matter-of-factly. "But I think it was an improvement from last week. The set-pieces were better and our backs played better. But there is lots of ground for improvement.

"We still go to ground too often and have to learn to fight to stay up at the contact area."

Craig Hamilton opened up Leinster after nine minutes, taking a popped up ball in a drive and touching down for the game's first try. That ensured Leinster would chase for most of the game.

Contepomi was perfect from the boot and Parks was close to equalling him but the Glasgow captain's drop goal on 40 minutes sent his side into the break with a 13-9 lead.

Leinster were throwing the ball around and the effort to play that type of game was clear to see. Kearney, a nugget of talent, if still raw but proving to be one of Leinster's most exciting finds, provided one of the highlights of the home side's performance, the sometimes unheralded Kieran Lewis another.

In a sweeping move Contepomi, Lewis and Kearney made ground up the left quarter before the teenager launched a left- footed punt. Glasgow fullback Colin Shaw appeared to have dealt with it but slid over the ball with the canny Leinster winger on him.

Kearney, voted man-of-the-match, simply picked and dived to put Leinster 16-13 ahead.

Eleven minutes later Lewis showed his burning pace and knifed through after Parks had been turned over in midfield. The outside centre even showed the good sense to cut in for a straightforward conversion by Contepomi for 23-13.

From there on Glasgow chased and when Craig Lamont dived in at the corner as Leinster were stretched too thin on the right, the promise was of a tight finish.

And so it proved. Contepomi and Parks exchanged kicks for 26-21 as Leinster weathered the final Glasgow push.

Scoring sequence: 9 mins: C Hamilton try, D Parks con 7-0; 20: F Contepomi pen 3-7; 32: Contepomi pen 6-7; 34: Parks pen 6-10; 38: F Contepomi pen 9-10; 40: Parks drop gl. 9-13. Half-time. 50: R Kearney try, Contepomi con 16-13; 55: K Lewis try, Contepomi con 23-13; 61: R Lamont try 23-18; 64: Contepomi pen 26-18; 66: Parks pen 26-21.

LEINSTER: G Dempsey; G Brown, K Lewis, F Contepomi (capt), R Kearney; C Warner, G Easterby; J Lyne, B Jackman, W Green, A Byrnes, B Gissing, C Potts, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: E Byrne for Lyne and D Blaney for Jackman (both 64 mins); B Burke for R Kearney (82 mins).

GLASGOW: C Shaw; R Lamont, A Craig, S Barrow, M Roberts; D Parks, S Pinder; E Murray, S Lawson, L Harrison, T Barker, C Hamilton, S Swindall, P Dearlove, A Wilson. Replacements: D Turner for Barker and G Beveridge for Pinder (both 60 mins); J Barclay for Wilson (63 mins); F Thompson for Lawson (70 mins).

Referee: P Frear (WRU)