In the penultimate weekend in the Heineken Cup group stage matches, Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors faced strong opposition in their quest to make the quarter finals for the first time in over seven years.

Glasgow Warriors 16-23 Leinster

In one of the most physical battles Firhill has ever seen, an all-Scottish Glasgow side narrowly lost out to reigning champions Leinster at a packed Firhill on Sunday.

Leinster stand-off Johnny Sexton showed the Dubliners’ intentions early on, breaking free from his own 22 in the first minute.

But it was Glasgow who began to impose themselves on their stellar opposition, with captain Al Kellock and prop Ed Kalman putting in impressive performances for the home side. Duncan Weir put the Warriors ahead early on with a simple penalty for offside.

Sexton landed a penalty to level on the half hour mark, before Weir hit back with another penalty two minutes later after some good work by Kellock and Richie Gray.

Sexton was on the receiving end of some heavy hits from the Glasgow pack, not least from flanker Chris Fusaro, and so it was centre Fergus McFadden who coolly slotted Leinster’s levelling penalty on the stroke of half time to make it 6-6.

Leinster came out firing in the second half and it was a neat kick through from Sexton which found full-back Rob Kearney, who shook off Rory Lamont and Colin Shaw to stroll through to the try line. McFadden’s conversion gave Leinster a seven point lead.

McFadden landed another close range penalty before a raft of Glasgow subs began to edge their way back into the contest, with a series of pick and drives and some neat handling bringing them into the Leinster 22.

A penalty was awarded to Glasgow and - after Weir elected to kick for the corner - a series of close darts led to replacement scrum-half Colin Gregor touching down in the far corner. Weir landed the touchline conversion to make it 16-16 with 15 minutes to play.

By this stage, Glasgow looked like they would go on to claim victory. But Leinster hit back with another try through Isaac Boss, which was again converted by McFadden, to make it 23-16 to the visitors.

Despite a sustained assault on their line, Leinster hung on to see them safely through to the quarter finals with a game to spare. Glasgow’s fate is now out of their hands.

The other match in Pool Three was a virtual dead rubber as Montpellier overcame Bath with a late try from Timoci Nagusa, which was converted by Martin Bustos Moyano, to give the French outfit their first win of the campaign. Neither side will be able to progress further this season.

Racing Metro 24-27 Edinburgh

A last minute drop-goal from replacement stand-off Phil Godman in the 82nd minute gave Edinburgh an important away win in Paris.

The capital side now look likely to progress to the latter stages of Europe’s premier competition, provided they win at home to London Irish next weekend.

Tries from back-rowers Netani Talei, Ross Rennie and a superb solo effort from Dave Denton gave Edinburgh the platform to seal a first victory for three years in France.

Despite Antoine Batut, Juan Imhoff and Francois Steyn touching down for the Parisians, it was a steely performance from the Edinburgh forwards, meaning that Racing have now lost all of their home games in this year’s competition.

Scotland coach Andy Robinson will have noted the performances of Rennie, Denton and Greig Laidlaw in particular as he contemplates his team to start against England in three weeks time. Edinburgh now look set to have at least some kind of European fixture in April to look forward to.

Cardiff Blues’ narrow 15-22 win at London Irish means that it will come down to next Sunday’s fixtures to decide who will top Pool Two, although both Cardiff and Edinburgh should be guaranteed some form of European rugby in April thanks to their dominance in this group.

In a nail biting Pool One contest at Parc Y Scarlets, Northampton Saints narrowly scraped by 17-29 against an impressive Scarlets side on Saturday. Munster sealed their place in the last eight with a comfortable 26-10 home win against Castres, who have now lost four games in a group they were supposedly a front-runner in.

In Pool Four, Ulster saw of Leicester Tigers in Belfast with an emphatic 41-7 thumping which few pundits would have predicted beforehand. Two tries from Andrew Trimble and further scores from Paul Marshall and Craig Gilroy gave the hosts a comfortable win.

Victory means any sort of points next weekend away to ASM Clermont Auvergne, who romped to an 0-82 away win against Aironi, will see them progress to the quarter finals.

In Pool Five, Ospreys secured the compulsory four-try bonus-point victory over Treviso on Friday night with a 44-17 win. But it is unlikely the Welsh side will progress, given that their final fixture is away to French heavyweights Biarritz, who narrowly lost 20-16 against Saracens on Sunday afternoon in a thrilling contest at Vicarage Road.

Sarries have now qualified as group winners and Biarritz could sneak through with a big win over Ospreys but may need low-scoring results elsewhere for that to happen.

Toulouse also booked their place in the quarter finals with a comfortable 24-3 win over struggling Connacht in Pool Six on Saturday.

Two tries from Timoci Matanavou and further scores from Maxime Medard and Lois Picamoles ensured the French giants head to Kingsholm next weekend looking to secure a crucial home quarter final.

They will face a Gloucester side who have failed to deliver this year, as the West country outfit again lost to fellow English side Harlequins 20-14 on Saturday.

Quins are also likely to proceed to the quarter finals, provided they pick up points in Galway next weekend.

Heading into the last weekend of the Heineken Cup group stage, it looks like Glasgow will need a series of miracles to secure European rugby in the spring.

But Edinburgh are in charge of their own destiny and a four try win against London Irish could very well see them earn a home quarter final come April.

You can follow Finlay Morrison on Twitter @FinMorrison