Gloucester complete double

Cherry and Whites record second league win against Sarries

Last updated: 4th January 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Gloucester complete double

Double success: Saracens' Andy Farrell tackles Gloucester's Mike Tindall

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Gloucester have completed a Guinness Premiership double over Saracens after scoring a 22-16 victory at a bitterly cold Kingsholm.

Olly Barkley kicked five penalties for the home side, who had to come from behind to earn a win which was their fifth in six league games.

It also backed up their 25-21 success against Sarries at Vicarage Road in November.

The weather conditions were such that there was some doubt as to whether the match would actually go ahead at all.

Kingsholm's pitch had been covered right through the holiday period but still there were hard patches around the ground before the start.

The first half claimed a couple of prominent casualties, with England internationals Andy Farrell, for Saracens, and Lesley Vainikolo both coming off injured.

The plight of Vainikolo appeared worse, the winger being stretchered off with a painful leg injury.

Saracens went into the interval 16-13 ahead after being 10-3 down midway through the period.

England centre Barkley opened the scoring with a penalty for the Cherry and Whites but Saracens fly-half Glen Jackson soon responded.

It was a two-man combination that set-up the home team's opening try as the ball was swung to the left for centre Mike Tindall to race down the touchline.

He passed out to Vainikolo and he in turn was able to get the ball away to full-back Olly Morgan for his sixth try of the season.

Barkley ploughed over the conversion and all appeared to be going to plan for Gloucester.

Pressure

But Saracens started to get their act together and put pressure on their opponents' line.

Having an impressive opening 40 minutes, Jackson pulled them back to within four points with a second penalty before a terrific piece of ingenuity caught Gloucester cold.

With Saracens having been awarded a penalty, it looked as though Jackson was going to try for goal.

But the New Zealand-born fly-half instead kicked to the touchline for wing Richard Haughton to catch and go in unopposed under the posts.

His conversion handed Sarries a three-point lead and that remained the same after another penalty was converted by each side's goalkicker.

Barkley then levelled matters at 16-16 with a penalty early in the second half, a period of stalemate following before the ex-Bath man put his side ahead on 63 minutes with a 40-metre penalty.

He was again accurate from 40 metres on 68 minutes and, with Gloucester in the ascendancy, Saracens did themselves no favours when replacement Andy Saull was sin-binned.

The only serious try-scoring opportunity of the half came with two minutes to go when home number eight Luke Narraway knocked a pass on with the line at his mercy.

However, by that stage the Cherry and Whites had done enough - Sarries having to settle for the the consolation of a losing bonus point.