Gloucester coach Dean Ryan was delighted to see his team come through against the Ospreys on Friday.
Cherries coach applauds second-half turnaround
Gloucester coach Dean Ryan was delighted to see his team come through against the Ospreys on Friday, admitted the Welsh side had the better of the first half.
The Premiership front-runners went into the break three points adrift but dazzling tries from Anthony Allen and James Simpson-Daniel gave the home team a 26-18 victory at Kingsholm.
It puts Gloucester in good shape in Pool 2 ahead of consecutive clashes with French side Bourgoin.
"At 12-9 down, we hadn't had much of the game and we were lucky to be that close at half-time," he said.
Long journey
"I thought our composure and understanding of how to close the game out was crucial.
"The margins are so tight in this tournament that you have to ensure you don't expose yourselves to making mistakes.
"The Heineken Cup is a long journey. It's that big a competition, you have to learn some of the lessons from previous failures.
"This result puts pressure on the Ospreys, but we've got to go to Bourgoin next month, which is an enormous game."
In contrast, Ospreys coach Lyn Jones found defeat hard to take ahead of two difficult matches against Ulster next month.
Turnovers
"We had the game in the palm of our hands, but we lost control and conceded a couple of key turnovers," he said. "We are bitterly disappointed not to win.
"The boys are devastated in the dressing room - not to have won that game is mystifying.
"These games are close affairs, and we lost control a little bit in the second-half. Conceding 26 points is unusual for us."
