This was a big night for Glasgow Warriors - but a sour note comes with injuries

That would put Franco Smith’s side in an better position for the play-offs, giving them home advantage. Their biggest issue could be finding a stadium to play the final - if they make it that far - with Scotstoun being used for the Commonwealth Games and Murrayfield hosting country and western gigs.

But that’s a problem for another day. For the moment, Glasgow can enjoy their return to winning ways. This 40-17 victory over Cardiff ended a run of three successive defeats and, combined with the Stormers’ 38-38 draw with Ulster in Belfast, meant that Glasgow replaced the South African side at the summit.

This was a big night for the Warriors. Their annual Plaster It Purple fixture raises funds for the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity and Scotstoun was sold out for the occasion. It was also potentially the last home outing for some of the players who are leaving the club in the summer.

Included in that number is Johnny Matthews and the hooker marked the occasion by scoring two of Glasgow’s six tries. Both were from lineout drives - his stock-in-trade - and they took his club total to a remarkable 53. He will be much missed when he departs for Montauban.

The Warriors’ other scores came from Jack Dempsey, who is also leaving, Kyle Steyn, Patrick Schickerling and Kyle Rowe.

Glasgow took a little while to get going but when they did they were some big performances from their big players. Sione Tuipulotu, Steyn and the returning George Horne all shone on a night when Cardiff never really looked like spoiling the party.

Horne, who missed the three defeats with an ankle injury, returned to added tempo and guile and also converted their first four tries. Ollie Smith also chipped in with a conversion after replacing Dan Lancaster at stand-off.

The only potential sour note was that Rory Darge, Alex Samuel and Tuipulotu all left the field with injuries.

How Glasgow Warriors burst into life

Glasgow felt their way into the game and burst into life in the 18th minute. The ball went through the backs' hands before Steyn shipped it on to Dempsey and should have received a return pass from the No 8 who decided to go himself and was stopped short. Glasgow reset quickly and Horne flipped the ball to Dempsey who redeemed himself by stepping inside his man to score

Steyn got the try his performance deserved five minutes later, turning on the afterburners to stride clear of Josh Adams after a well worked scrum move. With Horne converting both, the Warriors were 14-0 up but Cardiff fired back through Adams. The visitors took a tap penalty from five meters out, set up a quick ruck and played in Adams to score. There was a suggestion of blocking but referee Eoghan Cross saw nothing untoward.

Matthews made sure he went out with a bang, scoring the Warriors’ third try from a lineout drive.

The half ended on an acrimonious note as Zander Fagerson was hit late by Taine Basham and reacted. Cross saw it and penalised the Warriors prop and then called over Steyn because he was unhappy with a bit of backchat from one or two of the home players.

The second half was eight minutes old when Matthews bagged his second try. Lancaster had a hairy moment when he was charged down on his own 22 but the stand-off recovered well with two kicks to the corner. From the second, Glasgow worked their lineout magic and Matthews was on the end of it. The hooker left the field soon after to generous applause, with Gregor Hiddleston taking his place.

Cardiff still have hopes of making the top eight and a bonus point or two would have been useful. Danny Southworth gave them a glimmer of hope and his try reduced Glasgow’s lead to 16 points but the home side weren’t done and added two more tries before the night was out.

Schickerling replaced Jamie Bhatti in the 55th minute and had a big impact. The loosehead scored from close range then had a big carry and offload which helped pave the way for Glasgow’s sixth try. Tuipulotu, Steyn and Stafford McDowall were also involved before Rowe danced his way over.

Jacob Beetham scored Cardiff’s third try with a minute remaining after good work by Ioan Lloyd but the visitors left Scotstoun empty-handed.

Glasgow Warriors v Cardiff details

Scorers: Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Dempsey, Steyn, Matthews 2, Schickerling, Rowe. Cons: Horne 4, Smith. Cardiff: Tries: Adams, Southworth, Beetham. Cons: Sheedy.

Glasgow Warriors: J McKay; K Steyn (c), S McDowall, S Tuipulotu, K Rowe; D Lancaster (Ollie Smith 66), G Horne (B Afshar 66); J Bhatti (P Schickerling 55), J Matthews (G Hiddleston 59), Z Fagerson (S Talakai 58), A Miller, A Samuel (O Oguntibeju 69), M Fagerson (M Duncan 66), R Darge (S Vailanu 44), J Dempsey.

Cardiff: C Winnett (I Lloyd 67); J Beetham, J Adams (R Jennings h-t), B Thomas, T Bowen; C Sheedy, J Mulder (E Bevan 67); R Barratt (D Southworth 58), L Belcher (E Lloyd 58), K Assiratti (S Wainwright 58), J McNally (G Nott 33), R Thornton, J Botham, D Thomas (A Lawrence 67), T Basham.

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU).