An injury-time try from replacement Peter Horne gave Scotstoun a first European win to saviour as Glasgow defeated 2011 finalists Northampton.
Horne broke free with the final play of the game to evade the clutches of the covering Ben Foden to score underneath the posts, before adding the conversion to seal the deal.
Man of the Match Niko Matawalu, who moved from scrum-half to wing upon the introduction of Scotland squad member Sean Kennedy, kept the home side in touching distance with an interception breakaway score after tries from Foden and Dom Waldouck put the visitors in the ascendency.
Josh Strauss forced his way over late on to bring the game close, before the double strike by Matawalu and Horne sealed Gregor Townsend’s first win in the competition this season.
In what was effectively a dead-rubber for the home side, there was an early exchange of penalties, with Ruaridh Jackson and Stephen Myler getting both sides on the board inside the first five minutes.
On a bitterly cold afternoon, there was little flow to the match as handling errors hampered both teams efforts. That changed, though, when a simple move allowed former Wasps centre Dom Waldouck to crash through the Glasgow defence to score.
Half-time: Glasgow Warriors 6-10 Northampton Saints
The second half was a more entertaining affair, as the visitors pushed for the four-try bonus point they required to advance in European competition this season, and their hopes were dashed when Al Kellock’s superb carry off a well-worked lineout resulted in Josh Strauss barging his way over the line.
Scott Wight, on for the injured Jackson in the first half, added the extras to put the Warriors three points ahead.
As the Saints pushed, they created a number of chances out wide, and finally their efforts were rewarded when Samoan centre George Pisi rounded off a simple overlap to score. Ryan Lamb missed the conversion, meaning it was a two-point game (13-15).
Matawalu then struck from a poorly delivered pass, as he rushed out of the defensive line to outstrip the covering Elliot to score. Wight’s conversion was successful, meaning the Warriors had a five-point cushion with less than ten minutes to play.
England full-back Foden had other ideas though, as he went over to score for Jim Mallinder’s side in what was to be a frantic final ten minutes at Scotstoun.
Peter Horne, who moved to stand-off following the introduction of Alex Dunbar for Wight minutes earlier, took a looping pass on half-way, before breaking one tackle with a wonderful hand-off and outsprinting the covering Foden to the line.
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Byron McGuigan, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Ruiridh Jackson, 9 Niko Matawalu; 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Pat MacArthur,3 Moray Low, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 Al Kellock (captain), 6 Josh Strauss, 7 James Eddie, 8 Ryan Wilson
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall (on for MacArthur), 17 Ryan Grant (on for Reid), 18 N/A, 19 Tom Ryder (on for Kellock [blood] then Wilson, 20 Alex Dunbar (on for Wight), 21 Sean Kennedy (on for Seymour), 22 Scott Wight (on for Jackson), 23 Peter Horne (on for McGuigan)
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 James Wilson, 13 George Pisi, 12 Dom Waldouck, 11 Jamie Elliot, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson; 1 Soane Tonga’uiha, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 4 Samu Manoa, 5 Courtney Lawes, 6 Calum Clark, 7 Tom Wood, 8 Phil Dowson
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller (on for Tonga’uiha), 18 Tom Mercey (on for Doran-Jones), 19 Mark Sorenson (on for Clark), 20 Rhys Oakley (on for Lawes), 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Ryan Lamb (on for Myler, 23 Tom May (on for Wilson)
Heineken Man of the Match: Niko Matawalu