Heineken Cup: Toulouse fight their way past Treviso in Italy
Toulouse battled past Treviso to claim a 33-21 victory in their Heineken Cup clash at Stadio Comunale di Monigo.
Last Updated: 20/10/12 3:56pm
The home side led for much of the contest as fly-half Kristopher Burton kicked seven penalties but the quality of the four-time winners eventually told.
Toulouse were awarded a penalty try while Louis Picamoles and Vincent Clerc also scored, with a late red card for Christopher Tolofua the only blight on their performance.
Treviso showed they would not be overawed by making a lively start, Burton slotting over a penalty before Toulouse levelled things up via the boot of Luke McAllister.
The hosts hit back and were surprisingly 12-3 ahead in the 15th minute as Italy international Burton slotted three more penalties through the posts.
McAllister and Burton then traded penalties twice, but Toulouse could consider themselves the losers of the exchange as hooker Tolofua was yellow carded in the 32nd minute for persistent infringements in the scrum.
The scoreline remained 18-9 at half-time but McAllister reduced the deficit by three points shortly after the interval, although Burton quickly cancelled that out by slotting over after Clerc became the second visiting player to be sent to the sin bin.
The numbers were evened up when Treviso No 8 Robert Barbieri was shown the yellow card for killing the ball at the ruck and the shortage told when referee Leighton Hodges awarded a penalty try as the home scrum disintegrated while being pushed towards their own line.
From there Toulouse were in complete control, taking the lead when Picamoles dragged several listless tacklers over the try-line with McAllister adding the extras.
Clerc came back on to score as he grounded McAllister's chip under the posts but the search for a bonus point was unsuccessful as Tolofua was shown a second yellow card for tipping an opponent on his head.
