Warriors supremo Gregor Townsend was handed a massive double boost as he stepped up preparations for battle in Europe.
First, inspirational skipper Ally Kellock revealed he is ready to return to the big stage in the wake of his injury lay-off. Then he watched his troops pull off a remarkable Pro12 triumph at the Arms Park.
Kellock declared after emerging unscathed from his run-out for Hawks against Gala: “I feel really fine, really good, “I played for about 65 minutes so the lungs got stretched as well.
“It was tough rugby, physically hard and hard on the stamina. There could not have been a better test and the main thing is my shoulder is absolutely fine.
“Now I’ll go back to the Warriors, do my recovery and push as hard as I can for selection.”
Not that Kellock will expect to walk straight back into the line-up after the 3-0 try-count success in Wales, sub Niko Matawalu claiming two.
Cardiff surged out of the blocks and their urgent start was rewarded when Rhys Patchell thumped over an angled penalty after just three minutes.
But Glasgow’s confidence was underlined as they spurned an easy chance to equalise and kept the ball alive.
The gamble failed to pay off, but it wasn’t long before Henry Pyrgos found the target with a penalty from 25 metres.
There was a setback for the Warriors, though, when hooker Pat McArthur was forced off after landing awkwardly.
However, they shook off his absence by adding three more points from the boot of Pyrgos in the wake of ruck-handling.
Patchell levelled the contest again when a powerful rolling maul had the visiting defence on the back foot.
Cardiff continued to hold the momentum and in the 33rd minute a moment of magic by Sean Lamont silenced the crowd.
The Scotland veteran stole the ball from a ruck, sent Patchell sprawling and cruised to the line. Pyrgos added the extras.
Patchell fluffed a penalty chance on the stroke of half-time but made amends seven minutes after the restart with a monster kick from five metres inside his own half.
The tide seemed to turn further when Gordy Reid was yellow carded for a professional foul, which also handed Patchell a simple penally.
But the picture changed radically again, thanks to the opportunism of Matawalu.
Just seconds after coming off the bench for Pyrgos, he pounced on a loose pass and scuttled in for an interception score, goaled by Duncan Weir.
Weir was quickly back in the spotlight to bang over a penalty to stretch the gap to 11 points going into the final quarter.
He was on the mark again before converting another stunning try by Matawalu.