ANOTHER
WEEK, ANOTHER COSTLY FIRST HALF, as the Cherry and Whites once again
conceded a rash of unnecessary penalties to hand Leicester a 16-9 interval
lead.
Just as at The Stoop last week, Gloucester got their act together after
the break and could well have won the match as they finished very much
in control.
Before the game the Tigers’ fans were confident of a comfortable win
but afterwards they were muttering discontentedly that they could have
lost and their side is not what it should be. Certainly there is no
longer the air of invincibility at Welford Road, compared with the team
fashioned around Martin Johnson, the current outfit is ‘vin ordinaire’.
As for Gloucester, in James Forrester they possessed the outstanding
player on the field and he lost absolutely nothing in comparison with
abrasive England skipper Martin Corry, showing his ability with a deceptive
turn of speed, allied to that try scoring knack he has.
In-form Peter Richards too was very much in evidence with a typical
live-wire show and was a constant threat throughout.
We may be short of key players through injury but there is no lack of
spirit from those who have stepped up to take their places.
Rudy Keil, too often an also-ran, produced an encouraging performance,
didn't miss a tackle and provided a couple of half breaks that could
have led to scores.
Workmanlike Willie Walker is never going to set the Severn on fire but
he kicked his goals when it mattered but it is a pity his kicking out
of hand and restarts are not of the same high standard.
Walker got the first points of the afternoon with a well taken drop
goal but the visitors were let down by a succession of silly penalty
kicks and struggled to contain Leicester’s restarts where Andy Goode
secured towering height on his kicks and thereby posed continual problems
for the Gloucester defence. Goode and Walker exchanged penalties before
Tigers took the lead and soon after and got their first try through
centre Dan Hipkiss who evaded a clutch of would-be tacklers on their
first visit to the Gloucester twenty five and the conversion gave the
home side a 16-6 lead.
However Walker narrowed the gap with another straight-forward drop goal
at the end of a disjointed error strewn first half but Gloucester straight
away conceded another penalty from the re-start.
Will James and Patrice Collazo were replaced at half time and Goode
added another successful kick at the start of the second period.
Gloucester hit back to shake Tigers thanks to Peter Richards who latched
on to a pass from Walker who had fielded a poor kick from an under-pressure
Geordan Murphy and made ground before Richards fed Marco Bortolami and
James Forrester was on hand on the outside to dive over for the try
to reduce the margin to 19-14.
Gloucester made another hash of a restart and Leicester made them pay
when Fijian wing Rabeni cut through the mid-field to score but Goode
missed the conversion. 24-14.
Tiger’s fans thought it was a simple matter of getting the bonus point
but although the line out stuttered, Gloucester were playing with more
purpose as Andy Hazell and James Forrester drove Leicester back with
some bone crunching tackles.
Walker and Keil combined in mid-field to make ground as Gloucester were
in the ascendancy and thanks to Django Anthony Allen proved too elusive
for the Tigers’ cover defence and scored under the posts. Walker’s conversion
closed the gap to three points at 24-21.
Once again Leicester were gifted another penalty and Goode’s boot took
the score to 27-21.
The Cherry and Whites were not finished though, as Walker kicked a good
penalty from wide out to take the score to 27-24.
Christian Califano was injured and replaced by Jack Forster whilst Willie
Walker was also obliged to leave the field with a leg injury but Gloucester
kept going forward.
Last week replacement Brad Davies was on the field for Pertemps Bees,
this week he did the business for Gloucester as he leveled the scores
with a successful penalty.
The visitors so nearly snatched victory when replacement Rory Lawson
was almost over but was robbed of the ball on the line and Leicester
mounted a desperate last minute challenge but their replacement Paul
Burke was way off-target with a drop goal attempt.
A good draw for the Cherry and Whites. Somewhat unexpected maybe but
thoroughly deserved.
Next, the formidable challenge of Northampton at Kingsholm.
Bring ‘em on!
T.H.
Pricey'
Postscript
Still too many errors and certainly too many silly penalties. Not the
best execution at times, I admit but you can't knock the commitment
and the never say die attitude.
In previous years Gloucester would have rolled over well before half
time at Leicester or indeed at any other away fixture and skulked away
at the final whistle having been drubbed by 40 points.
But that's not happening now. They fought back at Llanelli away (well
beaten all the same but no more points conceded in the second half)
and came back last week to turn over Quins.
Attitude 100%, skill 50% but when the latter rises above 75% someone
is in for a right going over.
A special team? You'd better believe it!
J.G.P 17/9/2006
| |
Drop
Goals- Walker:{2}, Penalty Walker |
H/T
9-16 |
Tries:- Forrester, Allen. Con. Walker, Pen, Walker, Davies
|
27-27 |
Gloucester
O.Morgan
J.Bailey, R.Keil, A.Allen, M.Foster
, W.Walker rep.B.Davies, P.Richards rep. R.Lawson
P.Collazo rep.N.Wood, O.Azam rep. M.Davies, C.Califano rep. J.Forster
M.Bortolami (capt), . W.James rep. A.Eustace
P.Buxton , J.Forrester, A.Hazell rep. J.Boer
Referee: Tony Spreadbury
Attendance - 16,815
