Exeter off to flying start
Gareth Steenson claimed a personal haul of 17 points as Exeter made their first appearance in the Aviva Premiership a winning one.
Last Updated: 04/09/10 6:31pm
Gareth Steenson claimed a personal haul of 17 points as Exeter made their first appearance in the Aviva Premiership a winning one.
The Chiefs crushed a hapless Gloucester 22-10 at Sandy Park as Steenson's opposite number Nicky Robinson had a nightmare start to the campaign, missing all five attempts at goal.
Newly-promoted Exeter made a dream start to life in the Premiership with a try after just four minutes, skilfully moving the ball wide to send Mark Foster in on the overlap.
However, the Cherry and Whites retaliated with a score of their own on 12 minutes when Mike Tindall went on a powerful run, taking his side underneath the posts.
Scrum
From the resulting scrum Luke Narraway and David Lewis combined to give James Simpson-Daniel the opening to cross in the corner.
Robinson missed from wide out and fly-half Steenson extended the home lead four minutes later with an angled 40-metre penalty.
Gloucester almost crossed for their second try after 21 minutes when Narraway touched down after Simpson-Daniel was again involved, only for the final pass to be ruled forward.
The visitors' woes continued when Olly Morgan exited with another injury before Robinson shaved the post with another penalty attempt, and this time they paid the price when Steenson made it 13-5 following an offence at the ruck.
Robinson had one more chance to narrow the arrears before the break, but the ball came back off an upright, and Steenson put his side 11 points up at half time with another fine effort on the angle.
Disbelief
Remarkably, Robinson was presented with another chance to bring his side back into the contest just four minutes into the second period, but a fourth miss had him shaking his head in disbelief.
Despite that the visitors continued to dominate proceedings in the second half and one lovely run from centre Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu nearly brought them a deserved score.
But sustained pressure finally told and Gloucester got their try when replacement Tim Taylor crossed after more good work from Simpson-Daniel - although Robinson's conversion attempt hit the post.
Two unforced errors from Gloucester gave Exeter a platform and once again Steenson showed the value of an in-form goalkicker with another successful penalty.
The visitors had yet another chance when Lesley Vainikolo was put clear with 20 metres to go - but again a Gloucester pass was ruled forward.
With 12 minutes to go Exeter produced their best attacking phase of the match, culminating in a simple drop goal from Steenson.
That left Gloucester with a mountain to climb - and the home side comfortably held on to their advantage.
