Gloucester did their hopes of winning the Aviva Premiership no harm at all with a crushing win over Newcastle Falcons. The score line only tells half the story though, as the Falcons pushed them all of the way.
First Half
Newcastle started the brighter of the two teams at the Kingsholm Stadium and had the chance to go in front only 4 minutes in with a penalty. New Zealand fly half Jimmy Gopperth took aim but couldn't quite get enough elevation on his kick.
The Falcons continued to show some bright attacking play but Gloucester started to display why they are real contenders this season when they won two penalties of their own in quick succession. But Freddie Burns followed Gopperth's lead and couldn't quite convert either kick.
Despite no points being put on the board the opening stages of the match were very end to end and both teams could have scored tries within a matter of minutes. First Gopperth spotted a gap and sprinted into the Gloucester 22 forcing Burns to make an impressive tackle. At the breakdown Rikki Sheriffe and Alex Tait had chances but Gloucester managed to scramble it clear.
Moments later Gloucester thought they had scored themselves when Jonny May scampered into the corner but the touch judge called play back for a foot being in touch.
The deadlock was finally broken 23 minutes in when Burns finally managed to convert a penalty and this was the catalyst for a flurry of points.
Two minutes later Burns managed to get himself a try when he took the ball off Tim Molenaar from the scrum before breaking through a tackle and diving under the posts. A conversion increased the lead to ten points but Newcastle reacted well and soon got themselves back in the match.
Twice in three minutes Gloucester managed to get themselves in offside positions and Gopperth converted both penalties with ease. At this point the Falcons were well on top in the game and Gopperth reduced the deficit to only one point at half time with yet another penalty to increase the tension around the Kingsholm.
Half Time “ Gloucester 10-9 Newcastle Falcons
Second Half
Burns did his best to settle some nerves with another Gloucester penalty seven minutes into the second half but the Falcons wouldn't lie down and penned the Cherry and Whites into their own half for a short period.
A number of forward drives by Newcastle were stopped doggedly stopped and it took some shrewd changes by Bryan Redpath to change the match and hand the momentum back to Gloucester.
The changes seemed to do the trick and 64 minutes in the West Country side managed to grab their second try. A brilliant Luke Narraway pass set up one of the replacements Henry Trinder to dive over the line and a Tim Taylor conversion opened up the gap to 11 points.
By this stage Newcastle had lost all of their momentum and their fate was virtually sealed shortly after when Ally Hogg was yellow carded.
A third Gloucester try at this stage was inevitable and it came 10 minutes from time when Scott Lawson set up Jonny May to score in the corner.
Gloucester continued to press and grabbed a bonus point they could scarcely have dreamed of at one point with a try 76 minutes in. Alasdair Dickinson managed to burst through some tired Newcastle players and found the supporting Rory Lawson who gleefully dived over.
Full Time “ Gloucester 34-9 Newcastle Falcons
This was the perfect result for Gloucester after their thrashing at the hands of Harlequins last week but they will feel mightily relieved after this match. Newcastle pushed them all the way and the Falcons will feel annoyed that they didn't get any points on the board during their spell of pressure in the second half. They will now have to make sure that Leeds Carnegie don't catch them in their battle to stay up.
Man of the match - Luke Narraway (Gloucester)
Gloucester
Tries: Freddie Burns (1), Henry Trinder (1), Jonny May (1), Rory Lawson (1)
Conversions: Freddie Burns (1), Tim Taylor (3)
Penalties: Freddie Burns (2)
Newcastle Falcons
Penalties: Jimmy Gopperth (3)
Sin-binned: Ally Hogg
