Full-back Robbie Kydd grabbed all his side's points as Saracens shocked
high-flying Gloucester at Vicarage Road.
The Scottish B international, who signed for Saracens from Bath this year,
scored a try and three penalties to cap a man-of-the-match display.
All Gloucester could muster was a bonus point for finishing within seven
points of their opponents.
Gloucester were stretched to the limit player-wise, having 12 men either
injured or on international duty.
And that number increased to 13 with the loss of club captain Jake Boer before
the kick-off, the flanker having suffered a groin problem.
Saracens had five front-line men out but they struggled to contain the
patched-up Cherry and Whites in the opening exchanges.
Gloucester went ahead after 12 minutes when fly-half Simon Amor made French
hooker Raphael Ibanez pay for putting his hands into a ruck illegally.
Amor lined-up a 28-yard shot at goal, his second attempt of the afternoon
after missing a long-range effort at the start of the game, and put it over.
Saracens stuck to their task and were the closest to scoring a try in the
half. They pressurised their opponents for five minutes but a race for the line
involving centre Kevin Sorrell and Gloucester full-back Jon Goodridge was pulled
back for an infringement.
It was a pretty dour half as Kydd kicked a penalty to level the game and added
a second to make the half-time score 6-6 after Amor had booted a 25-yard penalty
when Saracens were caught offside at a ruck.
But the gloom of a dark afternoon was lifted a minute into the second half
when Saracens went over for a try.
A long kick to the edge of the pitch on halfway was collected by winger Tevita
Vaikona who made ground before passing onto centre Ben Johnston.
He, in turn, just got inside the Gloucester 22 before being tackled. However,
Johnston managed to give the ball to Kydd on his right-hand side and the
full-back went over in the corner.
The conversion was missed but Saracens now held the advantage and were on
course for a much-needed victory.
Gloucester, though, do not lie down that easily and kept Saracens pinned in
their own half for a long period after the interval.
The home defence held firm as the Cherry and Whites returned to traditional
methods, keeping the ball tight and letting their famous forwards take the game
to the home side.
It nearly paid off when Amor chipped through the home defence inside the 22
only for the ball to stray away from chasing centre Terry Fanolua and home
fly-half Mark Bartholomeusz.
The match as getting tough for the home side and it did not help when they
gave away another penalty 40metres away but bang in front of the posts midway
through the half.
Amor put his boot to the shot and reduced the arrears to just two points
before Kydd added his third penalty of the afternoon.
The mistaken-riddled match failed to spark into any more life other than a few
kicks into the corners from the excellent Bartholomeusz.
Both sides tried to run through each other but the biggest winner was the
tackle count which must have been enormous given the number of hits put in from
both sides.
As the clock ticked down Gloucester could not cling onto the final pass or
break their way through to get the try that would have put them back into the
game.
The victory lifts Saracens seven points clear of Northampton and Harlequins
below them in the relegation battle.
Teams:
Saracens: Kydd, Haughton, Johnston, Sorrell, Vaikona,
Bartholomeusz, Williams, Yates, Ibanez, Visagie, Chesney,
Fullarton, Randell, Sanderson, Vyvyan.
Replacements: Lloyd for Yates (73), Cairns for Ibanez (47),
S. Raiwalui for Chesney (55), Skirving for Sanderson (62).
Not Used: Raulini, Harris, Bailey.
Tries: Kydd.
Pens: Kydd 3.
Gloucester: Goodridge, Garvey, Mauger, Fanolua, Bailey, Amor,
Page, Bezuidenhout, Fortey, Powell, Eustace, Cornwell,
Forrester, Buxton, Balding.
Replacements: Kiole for Bailey (61).
Not Used: Parkes, Wood, Elloway, Narraway, Davies, Teague.
Pens: Amor 3.
Att: 6,860
Ref: A Jones (England).
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