Gloucester held on for a hard-fought victory over Worcester in an enthralling
Sixways encounter.
Two tries within the space of five second half minutes ultimately condemned
the Warriors to their sixth defeat of the season as Gloucester continued their
winning form.
Henry Paul and Jon Goodridge burst over the line to spark the visitors into
life after trailing 10-6 in this first ever Premiership derby between the two.
The double try effort put the visitors out of sight after Worcester had gone
in front following a converted Tony Windo try and a James Brown penalty.
Brown's penalty late on gave the Warriors hope but, despite immense pressure
on the Gloucester line in the dying moments, Worcester could not quite break
through for the killer score.
The Warriors began the game in front of an 8,400 capacity crowd and a cauldron
of an atmosphere at Sixways with Gloucester fans filling half the stands.
And the Cherry and Whites supporters were cheering early on when fly half
Duncan McRae lifted their spirits with a second minute drop goal.
With referee Roy Maybank struggling to control both packs, as two brawls
erupted in the opening 10 minutes, he finally lost patience in the 12th minute
as Sixways lock Tim Collier was sin binned for misdemeanours in the lineout.
It made precious little difference to the home side, however, as a minute
later former Gloucester prop Windo took the ball unopposed and sprinted in for a
try which will have given coach Dean Ryan a sudden rise in blood pressure.
Boosted by the opportunistic try, fly half Brown added the conversion amid
wild Sixways celebrations.
For Gloucester man Windo, who moved to Worcester in 1999 from Kingsholm, it
was a perfect moment and set up more Warriors pressure despite the numerical
disadvantage.
Ultimately, despite charges from another ex-Gloucester favourite Thinus
Delport, Gloucester went into the break just a point behind thanks to Paul's
20th minute penalty.
The former Rugby League man, however, missed two more as Gloucester failed to
make their chances pay before half time.
Gloucester's two second half tries - one which was converted by Paul - was the
difference, however, despite having Phil Vickery sin-binned late on along with
Worcester's Steve Sparks.
The home side were camped in the Gloucester 22 for long periods in the final
10 minutes and even had a penalty, five metres out, in the last minute.
However, after replacement Lee Fortey lashed out the penalty was reversed and
the chance was gone.
Teams:
Worcester: Delport, O'Leary, Rasmussen, Lombard, Hinshelwood,
Brown, Powell, Windo, van Niekerk, Horsman, Collier, Gillies,
Gabey, Sanderson, Hickey, Kepu.
Replacements: Kepu for O'Leary (60), Sparks for Windo (74),
Daly for van Niekerk (21), Vaili for Collier (70),
Gollings for Kepu (79).
Not Used: Fortey, Stuart-Smith.
Sin Bin: Collier (12), Sparks (77).
Tries: Windo.
Cons: Brown.
Pens: Brown 2.
Gloucester: Goodridge, Garvey, Fanolua, Paul, Simpson-Daniel,
McRae, Gomarsall, Bezuidenhout, Azam, Powell, Buxton, Brown,
Boer, Hazell, Forrester.
Replacements: Sigley for Bezuidenhout (61),
Fortey for Azam (61), Eustace for Buxton (69).
Not Used: Vickery, Balding, Page, Bailey.
Sin Bin: Vickery (77).
Tries: Paul, Goodridge. Cons: Paul. Pens: Paul.
Drop Goals: McRae.
Att: 8,400
Ref: Roy Maybank (Kent).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook