Derby triumph for Gloucester

Charlie Sharples on the burst

Gloucester claimed the spoils in the west country derby against Bath, largely thanks to a dominant display up front.

Two Sam Vesty penalties had given Bath a 6-0 lead as their ability to retain possession through multiple phases stretched a Gloucester side guilty of turning the ball over on a regular basis during a torrid opening half-hour.

But the Cherry and Whites had established a supremacy at the scrum and their potent threat from driving line-outs was exemplified when Darren Dawidiuk claimed the opening try, with five points from fly-half Tim Taylor giving them a 10-6 interval advantage.

Taylor added two further penalties before Charlie Sharples crossed late on to seal the win and leave Bath without a victory at the home of their neighbours since 2006.

The visitors elected to keep ball in hand in the early going but were met with some stern Gloucester defence, with prop Nick Wood and flanker Matt Cox making strong contributions.

Wood was also enjoying a good start at scrum time, popping Bath tighthead Duncan Bell up at two of the first three engagements.

But Bath edged ahead when Vesty slotted a 23rd-minute penalty after purposeful carrying from Ryan Caldwell and Nathan Catt had put the visitors deep in Gloucester territory.

And the fly-half doubled the lead as he found the target, with the aid of the crossbar, after Gloucester had been guilty of pulling down in the line-out.

Basic errors continued to haunt the home side, but Gloucester were beginning to enjoy the better of the tight exchanges and a series of powerful, controlled driving mauls yielded a Taylor penalty.

Moments later hooker Dawidiuk emerged at the bottom of a pile of bodies for the game's opening try, converted by Taylor for an unlikely 10-6 half-time lead.

Momentum

The swift change of momentum continued into the second half as Taylor landed his second penalty within two minutes of the restart, although he was off target with his next attempt from inside his own half.

Bath were rattled and another scrum penalty and sloppy line-out work allowed Gloucester back into their 22, with Dan Hipkiss bravely denying Lesley Vainikolo a potential score.

It was now Bath who were having to soak up wave after wave of attacks, and another infringement allowed Taylor to move the Cherry and Whites more than a score clear as the contest entered the final quarter.

Vesty had a chance to narrow the gap after an increasingly rare foray into Gloucester territory, but spooned his kick to the right of the uprights, with replacement Tom Heathcote repeating the feat as Bath hopes faded.

Vainikolo was sin-binned in the dying moments for a high shot on Heathcote, who was again wide of the mark with the resulting penalty.

Heathcote's difficult day ended with another error as his knock-on saw Sharples launch an attack from his own line.

The wing kicked ahead and beat the Mark McMillan to the ball to gather and touch down, Freddie Burns adding the simple conversion to the raucous delight of the Kingsholm faithful.