Northampton regained second place in the Premiership after Paul Grayson's
perfect goal-kicking performance gave them a hard-fought victory at freezing
Kingsholm on Wednesday night.
Grayson booted five penalties from five attempts as Saints closed the gap on
league leaders and champions elect Leicester to seven points.
The win, achieved despite Gloucester scoring both tries of a fast and furious
encounter, lifted Northampton back above Saracens, who briefly claimed second
spot through beating Harlequins earlier on Wednesday.
Gloucester were left ruing four failed penalty attempts from fly-half Simon
Mannix and centre Terry Fanolua, the pair who ironically claimed the home team's
touchdowns either side of half-time.
Northampton now host third-placed Wasps on Saturday knowing all they can do is
keep winning and hope Leicester slip up somewhere, unlikely as that seems.
Saints built up an imposing 12-0 lead through four Grayson penalties before
Gloucester finally accepted a scoring chance after frittering away earlier
opportunities.
Mannix had missed three penalties - two from in front of the posts - while
wing Tom Beim knocked on with Saints' line at his mercy when Fanolua skilfully
unlocked Northampton's defence.
The home crowd of just under 10,000 grew increasingly impatient until Fanolua
rounded off a crisp move, touching down during first-half injury time when he
collected hooker Olivier Azam's astute overhead pass.
Fanolua converted as Mannix lost the goal-kicking duties, reminding Saints
they were still in a game.
Northampton were without skipper Pat Lam, who rested a long-standing shoulder
injury which will undergo surgery early next month, while England wing Ben Cohen
served a one-match club ban imposed for receiving three yellow cards.
But the European champions still fielded 11 internationals, including
debut-making Scotland centre John Leslie following his recent move from
Newcastle.
Grayson's unerring accuracy settled the Saints, their full-back dissecting
Gloucester's posts on four occasions between the 12th and 35th minutes.
On a playing surface protected from the freezing conditions by tarpaulin
covers that were removed only minutes before kick-off, Gloucester made
territorial headway through their forwards despite the absence of England prop
Phil Vickery to an upset stomach.
But the home team committed too many handling errors once possession was moved
away from set-piece areas.
A robust forward drive almost produced their second try on 50 minutes, yet
Northampton's powerful front row boasted sufficient scrummaging strength to keep
them out.
But Gloucester, beaten 34-15 at Franklin's Gardens 11 days ago, were not to be
denied an equalising score and it arrived barely 100 seconds later.
Referee Rob Goodliffe penalised Northampton at a line-out, marched them back
10 metres when he heard a dissenting voice and Gloucester's lively scrum-half
Andy Gomarsall made headway from which Mannix eventually prospered.
Northampton, having seen their 12-point advantage wiped out, inevitably took
time to recover, yet it was Grayson who got them going again by slotting a fifth
and match-winning penalty 15 minutes from time.
Zurich man of the match: Paul Grayson.
Teams:
Gloucester: Catling, Ewens, Fanolua,
Little, Beim, Mannix,
Gomarsall, Woodman, Azam, Deacon, Fidler, I. Jones, Boer,
K. Jones, Ojomoh.
Replacements: Hayward for Catling (63), Pearce for Fidler (60).
Not Used: Sanders, Yates, Fortey, Sanchez, Paramore.
Tries: Fanolua, Mannix.
Cons: Fanolua.
Northampton: Grayson, Martin, Bateman, Leslie, Shaw, Hepher,
Dawson, Pagel, Thompson, Stewart, Brouzet, Rodber, Blowers,
Pountney, Seely.
Not Used: Todd, Brotherstone, Phillips, Soden, Malone,
Thorneycroft, Allen.
Pens: Grayson 5.
Att: 9,859
Ref: Rob Goodliffe (RFU).
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