Ludovic Mercier, Gloucester's French kicking ace, again played the dominant
role in driving his side to victory.
Mercier notched up 19 points from five penalties and two conversions in a
match of great intensity which saw two Gloucester players - Terry Fanolua and
Mark Cornwell - sin-binned in the first half and Saracens' Kieron Roche receive
a yellow card in the second half.
Consequently, the fierceness of the tackling meant neither side produced much
play of real quality.
Gloucester got off to a flier with 10 points in the first five minutes as
Mercier, who much to the relief of home fans has just signed a new three-year
contract, slotted over a second minute penalty.
He was on target again a few minutes later with a conversion after Robert Todd
finished off a good move by the backs for a try.
Saracens gradually got back into the game with a penalty by Kevin Sorrell and
a try by Gerald Arasa which Sorrell also converted.
The centre added another penalty just before half-time but by that stage
Gloucester had moved on to 20 points after a try by Fanolua which Mercier
converted.
The Saracens half-time pep talk worked wonders and they had Gloucester at
panic stations for 10 minutes after the restart.
But when a Sorrell penalty bounced back off the posts Gloucester recovered
their earlier control to move to a useful win thanks to Mercier's boot and a
late try by Andy Gomarsall.
Unfortunately Mercier was laid out in a Saracens attack just before the end
and had to be helped off looking very groggy.
Teams:
Gloucester: Catling, O'Leary, Paul, Todd, Fanolua,
Mercier, Gomarsall, Woodman, Azam, Pucciarello, Fidler, Cornwell, Boer, Forrester, Paramore.
Replacements: Simpson-Daniel for Mercier (78),
Collazo for Woodman (70).
Not Used: Yachvili, Fortey, Deacon, Sewabu, Pearce.
Sin Bin: Cornwell (26), Fanolua (46).
Tries: Todd, Fanolua, Gomarsall.
Cons: Mercier 2, Paul.
Pens: Mercier 5.
Saracens: Sparg, Johnson, Shanklin,
Sorrell, Arasa, Horan, Bracken, Flatman, Russell, Durant, A. Benazzi, Murray, Chesney, Roques, Hill.
Replacements: Smith for Sorrell (75), Walshe for Bracken (63), Harbut for Russell (51), Cairns for Durant (51),
Cole for A. Benazzi (66), Roche for Murray (72).
Not Used: Haughton.
Sin Bin: Roche (80).
Tries: Arasa.
Cons: Sorrell.
Pens: Sorrell 2.
Att: 9,236
Ref: Roy Maybank (RFU).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook