GREGOR Townsend paid tribute to the massive Glasgow Warriors travelling support yesterday after his team lost their Champions Cup quarter-final to Saracens, insisting that the growth of the fan base showed how far the club had come over the last few years. At the same time, the head coach admitted that the four-tries-to-two defeat by the defending champions showed how much the team will have to do in the coming years to give themselves a chance of going further in Europe than just the last eight.

“Getting in our seats two minutes before kick off and seeing not only our fans but the occasion and the amount of support here was brilliant,” Townsend said after his team’s first-ever European quarter-final, in which Warriors fans made up around 6000 out of the 15,000 attendance. “That’s what our players want to be involved in.

“To see so many Glasgow fans coming down shows how far the club has come in the last few years,” he went on. “But today also shows how much has to be done to make the next step.

“To get through to the last eight was an achievement. But to get to the last four or the final of this tournament you need to be at your very best, because you’re against the best teams in Europe.”

The Warriors were lucky to go in only 14-3 down at half-time after the Television Match official had chalked off three Saracens scores. Owen Farrell opened the scoring with a penalty and added two more after Finn Russell had got Glasgow off the mark, then quarter of an hour before the break ex-England winger Chris Ashton grabbed the only try of the half. Joint captain Jonny Gray had been substituted by that time because of a head knock.

When Lee Jones scored first in the second half after collecting a diagonal kick from Russell and spinning clear of two defenders, Glasgow were right back in the match at 14-8 down, even though Russell missed the conversion. But Saracens, who perhaps had slackened off a bit, were shaken back into life by that score.

Five minutes later, Marcelo Bosch scored their second try, forcing his way through a couple of tired-looking tackles. Farrell converted, then soon added a penalty to dampen hopes of a fightback from the Scots.

Home captain Brad Barritt emphasised his team’s superiority with one late try, then Ashton grabbed his second, with Farrell converting both. Ryan Wilson’s unconverted try in the last play of the game made the final score a little more respectable from a Warriors point of view, but there was no denying that the better team deserved to win.

Saracens now go on to meet Munster in the semi-final later this month in Dublin. Glasgow - who would have had a home semi at Murrayfield if they had won - now visit Munster for their next match, and need to win to keep alive their chances of getting into the PRO12 play-off places.

Scorers: Saracens: Tries: Ashton 2, Bosch, Barritt. Cons: Farrell 3. Pens: Farrell 4.

Glasgow: Tries: Jones, Wilson. Pen: Russell.

Glasgow Warriors: S Hogg (R Hughes 71); T Seymour, P Horne (N Grigg 57), A Dunbar, L Jones; F Russell, H Pyrgos (A Price 51); G Reid (A Allan 60), F Brown (C Flynn 60), Z Fagerson (S Puafisi 48), B Alainu’uese, J Gray (G Peterson 12, C Fusaro 70), R Harley, R Wilson, A Ashe.

Referee: J Garces (France). Attendance: 15,000.