Match Centre: Gallagher Premiership: Gloucester 29-31 Northampton
George Furbank was part of winning Northampton side
©Steve Haag
Gloucester 29-31 Northampton Saints, Kingsholm
Curtis Langdon starred with a double as Northampton Saints edged out Gloucester 31-29 in the latest round of the Gallagher Premiership at Kingsholm on Saturday.
The Cherry and Whites had a chance to clinch a victory but Adam Hastings on his return from injury missed a penalty goal in the added minutes.
The Saints dominated the opening exchanges as Gloucester infringed at offside following Alex Mithcell dived under the posts for the opening try in the fourth minute and shortly Alex Coles burrowed down from close range.
Santi Socino thought he'd got the home team's first try when he went over on the back of a maul but referee Hamish Smales felt the hooker was held up before he touched down.
The start of the second quarter saw Langdon dotting down and Fin Smith managed to kick just one out the three conversions as the Saints raised their lead to 0-17. The gap between the teams continued to remain at 17 points as Freddie Clarke and Langdon traded tries before Saints lost Rory Hutchinson to sin bin for a dangerous tackle to the head of Ollie Thorley.
The gap between the teams came down to 10 points just before the end of the opening half as Scotland centre Chris Harris crossed over and Hastings improved to make it 14-24.
Gloucester extended their momentum into the second half as Matias Alemanno dived from close range in the 46th minute and shortly Santiago Carreras followed the suit making it 26-24 before Hastings landed a three-pointer to extend their lead to five points by the end of the third quarter.
By the 63rd minute, the Saints once again seized the lead as Tom Litchfield scored in the left wing and Smith kicked the extras to make it 29-31 before Hastings' missed penalty chance handed Gloucester a heartbreak.
Team line up:
Gloucester: Carreras; Rees-Zammit, Harris, Llewellyn, Thorley; Hastings, S Varney; Elrington, Socino, Balmain, Clarke, Alemanno, Ackermann, Ludlow, Mercer.
Reserves: McGuigan, Ford-Robinson, Gotovtsev, Jordan, Clement, Englefield, S Atkinson, Evans.
Northampton: Furbank; Litchfield, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Freeman; F Smith, Mitchell; E Waller, Langdon, Hill, Mayanavanua, Coles, Lawes, Pearson, Graham.
Reserves: S Matavesi, Haffar, Millar-Mills, Munga, Augustus, Braley, Savala, J Garside.
