Gloucester edged home against Premiership leaders Saracens in a tight finish.
For the second week running they failed to score at all in the second half and
were thankful for a series of near misses by Saracens as they forced their way
back into contention.
Gloucester got off to a flying start, scoring a quickfire 10 points.
They pressurised Saracens from the kick-off only for Byron Hayward to miss his
first penalty chance in the second minute.
But he was on target two minutes later with another penalty.
With Saracens pinned on their own line, Gloucester winger Tom Beim took
control and drew them out of position to create a gap for a fine try under the
posts with Hayward converting.
The Gloucester pressure continued but Hayward missed two more penalties, his
second bouncing off the post.
Duncan McRae had a similar experience with his first penalty attempt but
landed his second during a period of heavy Saracens attacking.
Gloucester had a narrow escape when Saracens hooker Robbie Russell dropped the
scoring pass as he went over beneath the post.
And Gloucester added to their own pressure when they had prop Stephane Sanchez
sin-binned for killing the ball at the ruck, having been previously warned.
Surprisingly it was Gloucester who claimed the next two scores with further
penalties from Hayward to take a 16-3 interval lead.
Saracens turned it all around in the second half and were unlucky not to claim
victory.
Twice they forced Gloucester to concede tries when they kicked penalties into
the corner and drove over from the lines-out for touchdowns. During the match
the tries were credited first to prop Paul Wallace and then to hooker Russell
but later it emerged that Wallace had claimed both.
McRae converted the first but fortunately for Gloucester he missed the all
important second which would have given Saracens victory.
Gloucester simply could not regain their first-half momentum and the best they
could manage during a torrid 40 minutes was a missed penalty and a missed drop
goal by Hayward.
Full-back Chris Catling made one superb break only for the try chance to be
ruled out by a forward pass.
Typical of Gloucester's close calls was one Saracens attack led by Australian
centre Tim Horan.
He had the line at his mercy but surprisingly slowed just short of scoring and
his pass went astray.
It appeared immediately however that he had suffered an injury in the dash for
the line for he was replaced straight away.
Both coaches were quick to highlight missed chances, but also paid credit to
the fighting spirit of the teams in what was a tough, close affair.
"These games are almost like internationals," said Gloucester coach Philippe
Saint-Andre, who felt his side should have been well clear at half time.
While Gloucester skipper Kingsley Jones added: "It was a close call, but we
made hard work of it."
Saracens captain Tony Diprose felt the match turned when his side failed to
take make their numerical advantage count.
He said: "The crucial period for us was just before half time when Gloucester
added six points although they were down to 14 players."
Coach Alan Zondagh said: "A lot of our youngsters played well with two making
their debuts and two their second games."
Gloucester (16) 16 Saracens (3) 15
Gloucester:
Tries: Beim.
Cons: Hayward.
Pens: Hayward 3.
Team: Catling, Fanolua,
Little, Yates, Beim, Hayward,
Gomarsall, Sanchez, Fortey, Deacon, Eustace, I. Jones, Boer,
K. Jones, Paramore.
Replacements: Ewens for Yates (64), Djoudi for Fortey (64),
Cornwell for Eustace (50), Hazell for I. Jones (56).
Not Used: Sanders, Simpson-Daniel, Cox.
Sin Bin: Sanchez (36).
Saracens:
Tries: Wallace, Russell.
Cons: McRae.
Pens: McRae.
Team: Arasa, Shanklin,
Horan, Johnson, O'Mahony, McRae,
Walshe, Wallace, Russell, White, Davison, Roche, Chesney,
Roques, Diprose.
Replacements: Haughton for Shanklin (46),
Trueman for Horan (52).
Not Used: Cairns, Phillips, Hooper, Cheesebrough, Hampson.
Att: 5,909
Ref: Chris Rees (RFU).
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