FIJIAN Niko Matawalu went from villain to hero as he came off the bench to inspire Glasgow to a wonderful 33-12 away win over Cardiff Blues.

A week after his indiscipline had almost cost his team victory over Leinster, the pacy scrum-half scored two crucial tries to give the Warriors their second Guinness Pro12 victory in a row.

The home team took an early lead at Cardiff Arms Park through a penalty from fly-half Rhys Patchell but Henry Pyrgos responded with two kicks of his own to put Glasgow in front.

Cardiff's driving line-out earned them another penalty, which Patchell put over.

But it took half an hour for Sean Lamont to grab the first try, racing 50 yards to the corner.

Pyrgos converted to give the visitors a 13-6 half-time lead.

Patchell sent over two more penalties, the second of them from 55 yards out, to reduce Glasgow's lead to one point.

And Warriors looked to be in trouble when replacement prop Gordon Reid was sent to the sin-bin. But they extended their lead when Matawalu, who had come on for Peter Horne, spotted a gap near the touchline before racing away for a touchdown.

A third newcomer, Duncan Weir, converted before adding two more penalties.

Then, with the visitors back at full strength, Matawalu again found space and galloped to the posts. Weir converted with ease to complete the scoring.

Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend revealed he had been delighted with the way his team dominated the period when they were down to 14 men.

He said: "It looked like Cardiff were getting momentum in the second half but that was when we really stepped it up."