Northampton coach John Steele admitted his team had finally found the spark they were looking for as the Saints hit form in the rain at Franklin's Gardens this afternoon.

Scotland skipper Budge Pountney scored the last of four second half tries as Glasgow were defeated 30-9 in their Heineken Cup encounter, the 2000 cup winners hitting back from an interval deficit.

"A number of senior players felt we weren't sparking as we should," said Steele, whose side were beaten in their opening match in Cardiff last week.

"They sorted it out between themselves and played some decent rugby in very poor conditions after half-time."

Replacements Jamie Brooks and Luca Martin both crossed, as did Mark Tucker before Pountney sauntered in at the end, adding more punishment to his international colleagues who relied on a drop-goal and two penalties from Tommy Hayes for their points.

"Over the last few weeks we have played some good rugby without being able to score tries," added Steele, whose side return to Premiership action next weekend with the visit of local rivals Leicester.

"We had to show some patience and maintain our self belief. This win will be good for our confidence and now we have to maintain that level of performance for the full 80 minutes."

Stand-off Ali Hepher limped off with a hamstring strain midway through the opening period and must be rated a doubt for next week, although Steele insisted winger Craig Moir would be fit even though he appeared to pull up with a similar problem late in the game.

Glasgow coach Richie Dixon vowed his team would bounce back from the defeat, even though they almost certainly need to record an away win in either Cardiff or Montferrand to have any hope of reaching the last eight.

"We have a fairly young side and we will recover," he said.

"It is going to be a difficult task for us now but you have to give credit to Northampton. They are a more expansive side than they showed today.

"But their forwards were dominant and we didn't stand up and react as well as we could have.

"Northampton gave us a lot of problems from their line-out drives and we were living on scraps of possession, which forced us into mistakes."

Despite leading at the interval, Glasgow looked a pale shadow of the side which advanced to the last eight of the Celtic League.

They also lost Roland Reid with damaged ribs, although he had little impact after switching from the wing to the back-row.

"We will assess him tomorrow," said Dixon, who added that Gordon Simpson had been released from hospital after abdominal trouble and could be available for Friday's Welsh-Scottish League encounter with Caerphilly.