Gloucester boosted their Zurich Premiership title hopes with a 24-14 bonus
point win over Sale Sharks - although the victory came at a high price.
Hooker Chris Fortey was stretchered off the pitch with a suspected broken
right lower leg - leaving the Cherry and Whites struggling for cover in the
front row with props Phil Vickery and Terry Sigley and hooker Olivier Azam also
injured.
Fortey was stretchered off while the game was suspended for seven minutes by
referee Ashley Rowden after he clashed with Sale's Dean Schofield following a
restart in the first half.
But at least Gloucester took five valuable points away with them as they
jumped up to fourth in the table.
Sale full-back Byron Hayward had drawn first blood with an early penalty but
it was the home side who looked in control, piling the pressure on the Sharks'
defence.
Their effort paid off when Fortey made a battering break in the midfield and
although the powerhouse forward failed to make the line scrum-half Alex Page
recycled the ball out to Simon Amor.
Amor struck a perfect cross-kick to the right wing where Marcel Garvey was
waiting and he fended off towering winger Steve Hanley to touch down.
Centre Terry Fanolua was next on the scoreboard with a try he made all on his
own.
The Samoan first chipped the ball ahead and Garvey collected before
off-loading to Fanolua, who charged across the line to score.
Amor converted but Sale, also eager to stay in the top three, clawed their way
back into the game before the break with Gloucester old boy Robert Todd making
mockery of their defence.
It was the Sharks' first glimmer of a try all game and Todd seized the
opportunity to score straight away, much to the disgust of the Kingsholm
faithful.
Hayward reduced Gloucester's lead further minutes into the second half with
another penalty but Fortey's replacement, James Parkes, managed to scramble his
way around a scrum dangerously close to Sale's goal line and score. Amor
converted to hand Gloucester a 19-11 advantage.
Young full-back Jon Goodridge then grabbed the all-important fourth try to put
Gloucester out of reach in the dying minutes of the game, although Hayward had
the last word with a 79th-minute penalty.
Teams:
Gloucester: Goodridge, Garvey, Mauger, Fanolua, Kiole, Amor,
Page, Bezuidenhout, Fortey, Powell, Eustace, Buxton, Forrester,
Boer, Balding.
Replacements: Wood for Bezuidenhout (79),
Parkes for Fortey (19).
Not Used: Pendlebury, Narraway, Davies, Bailey, Teague.
Tries: Garvey, Fanolua, Parkes, Goodridge.
Cons: Amor 2.
Sale: Hayward, Rhys Jones, Taumalolo, Todd, Hanley, Baxendell,
Martens, Turner, Roddam, Stewart, Day, Schofield, Caillet,
Carter, Anglesea, Lund.
Replacements: Moore for Rhys Jones (68),
Redpath for Martens (40), Lund for Turner (54),
Bozzi for Caillet (54), Perrett for Anglesea (72),
Halsall for Lund (80).
Not Used: Wigglesworth.
Tries: Todd.
Pens: Hayward 3.
Att: 12,365
Ref: Ashley Rowden (RFU).
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