Narrow win for Gloucester
Gloucester escaped with a 19-17 win in their opening Heineken Cup match of the season against Newport Gwent Dragons.
Last Updated: 09/10/09 10:17pm
Gloucester escaped by the skin of their teeth in their opening Heineken Cup match after coming from behind to beat the Newport Gwent Dragons 19-17 at Kingsholm.
The starts both sides have respectively made in their domestic leagues appeared set to play out in the Pool Two encounter, as the Dragons took a 14-7 half-time lead against indifferent-looking hosts.
James Arlidge and Joe Bearman scored tries for the Dragons as they hit back in style following Akapusi Qera's earlier score for the Cherry and Whites.
There were no more tries in the second period; instead it was left to respective fly-halfs Nicky Robinson and Arlidge to add further points, with the former kicking four penalties to earn Bryan Redpath's side a narrow win.
Tense
Befitting of its pre-match billing of a local derby, the opening exchanges were tense and frenetic, with a hint of nerves showing on occasion.
Gloucester had the best chance inside the opening 10 minutes but, with Charlie Sharples having done very well to gain territory by collecting a high kick inside the Dragons' 22, they eventually knocked on.
And although Qera and James Simpson-Daniel both had chances in the left-hand corner the game remained scoreless until the 23rd minute.
The breakthrough came courtesy of the power of Lesley Vainikolo, the big left winger inspiring a counter-attack by stepping inside and freeing Tim Molenaar, who had Qera appear on the overlap to touch down, again in the left-hand corner.
Robinson kicked the extras to provide further relief to the expectant home crowd but Gloucester made a hash of defending the re-start - the Dragons earning a penalty as they pressed immediately for a response.
Arlidge kicked for the corner and a period of Welsh pressure climaxed with Luke Charteris ploughing his way over - but the video referee decided that opposing scrum-half Rory Lawson prevented the stand-in captain from grounding the ball.
However, persistence paid off and following a strong scrum, Arlidge himself sprinted through, evading two challenges as he touched down under the posts before converting to level.
The Dragons continued to apply pressure and took the lead five minutes later when Wayne Evans cheekily flicked the ball inside off the back of a scrum about five metres from Gloucester's line and Bearman took advantage to cross over.
Arlidge again converted to take his side into the break seven points to the good although, with Peter Bracken making his debut off the bench, the Dragons started the second half on the back foot.
It was the boot of Robinson that got the home side back into the game - the number 10 reducing the deficit to four points with a penalty on the stroke of 44 minutes before doing the same six minutes later after the Dragons were caught offside.
Another was awarded in the 53rd minute and, although faced with a longer-range effort than the previous two, Robinson completed the hat-trick to place Gloucester two points clear.
Battle
At this stage the match became a battle of the fly-halfs, with only the width of the right post preventing Arlidge from immediately placing the Dragons clear once more.
He succeeded moments later, however, with the match capable of going either way as it entered its final quarter.
Robinson's 100 per cent record came to a halt when he missed a difficult penalty attempt in the 66th minute and with gaps starting to appear in both sides' defences entering the final 10 minutes, it seemed as though one more score would settle matters.
It was Gloucester who seized the advantage although, fittingly, it was Robinson who made the ultimate difference with another penalty, which came after Charteris was adjudged offside.
