Back came Leinster however to clinch victory and with it move top of the RaboDirect PRO12 table while the Warriors are currently in fifth spot.
They are currently three points behind fourth-place Ospreys but the Warriors have two games in hand on the Welsh side and of their eight remaining matches, six of them are at home.
And while Townsend admits the narrow margin of defeat was difficult to stomach, he saw plenty of positives signs for his side's RaboDirect PRO12 run-in.
"It was a cracking game with two very good sides going at each other for 80 minutes in difficult conditions and there were some great tries scored," Townsend told glasgowwarriors.org.
"I was very proud of the players, the way they took the initiative in attack and really took the game to Leinster and especially how we defended with real effort going in and some big tackles being made to defend our line.
"It's disappointing we didn't come away with a win but we've gone up against the defending champions, really put them under pressure and scored a couple of good tries.
"We've got to learn how to make the most of our opportunities but I was very pleased with the performance and it sets us up well with eight games remaining, six of which are at home."
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