Gloucester leave it late
Gareth Delve's late try earned Gloucester a 13-11 win away against the Newport Dragons.
By Phil Jackson
Last Updated: 30/11/07 10:07pm
Gareth Delve's late try earned Gloucester a 13-11 win away against the Newport-Gwent Dragons on Friday night.
Chris Paterson kicked the conversion to hand the Guinness Premiership leaders the meaningless victory at Rodney Parade.
Both coaches knew they could not qualify for the EDF Energy Cup semi-finals before the game, but that did not stop both sets of players giving it their all.
Willie Walker booted Gloucester into a 3-0 lead inside the first few minutes, but the English side then found themselves under intense pressure from the Welsh pack, spurred on by captain Ceri Sweeney's tactical kicking.
Drama
The Welsh international landed a penalty from the 22-metre line to level the scores, and the visitors went further behind when Dragons prop Adam Black drove in under a pile of bodies after a five-metre scrum.
Walker's penalty five minutes into the second-half reduced Newport's lead to 8-6, but Gloucester were penalised for dropping a scrum to gift Sweeney another simple three-point opportunity.
Relentless pressure from the visitors eventually told in the dying minutes though when Wales number eight Delve crossed from a scrum five.
And Scottish fly-half Paterson kept his cool, amidst vociferous booing from the home crowd, to kick the conversion and secure Gloucester's second successive last gasp win.
