Barton try secures Gloucester dramatic late winner
EUROPEAN CUP MATCH REPORT: An 85th minute try from George Barton gave Gloucester a dramatic 38-34 win over Ulster in a classic Champions Cup encounter at Kingsholm Stadium.
It was a match that swung back-and-forth throughout, with both sides holding seemingly comfortable leads at various points in the match.
* As it happened. To recap all the drama, CLICK HERE!
The English side made the better start, with Louis Rees-Zammit managing to cut back inside and had enough strength to dot down.
Billy Burns soon responded for the Irish province, cutting a good line as Gloucester slightly over-committed in defence and allowed the fly-half to score against his former side.
The game looked to swing in Gloucester’s favour shortly after when Alexandre Ruiz sent Rob Herring and Alan O’Connor into the sin bin, as well as giving the English side a penalty try.
The visitors managed to come away from the sin bin period with a three-point gain but fell further behind at the start of the second period.
Mark Atkinson was the man to benefit from a powerful Gloucester maul, helping the Cherry and Whites to take a 24-10 lead.
The second half then swung in Ulster’s favour, with tries from Michael Lowry, John Cooney – who also slotted over a penalty kick – as well as a penalty try putting the Irish province 34-24 ahead.
A third penalty try of the evening – this time for Gloucester – narrowed the gap yet again with Ethan McIlroy also heading to the sin bin after a deliberate knock on.
But the drama wasn’t finished as Gloucester dealt the telling blow in the 85th minute.
With penalty advantage, Gloucester could play out wide and that allowed George Barton to battle his way over for a famous victory.
The scorers
For Gloucester
Tries: Rees-Zammit, Penalty tries 2, Atkinson, Barton
Cons: Evans 3, penalty tries do not require conversions
Pen: Evans
For Ulster
Tries: Burns, Lowry, Penalty try, Cooney
Cons: Cooney 3, penalty try does not require a conversion
Pens: Cooney 2
Yellow cards: Rob Herring (Ulster, 25), Alan O’Connor (Ulster, 26), Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester, 58)
Teams
Gloucester: 15 Kyle Moyle, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Louis Rees-Zammit, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Charlie Chapman, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Ciaran Knight, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Seb Nagle-Taylor, 21 Toby Venner, 22 George Barton, 23 Henry Trinder.
Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Matt Faddes, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns (captain), 9 John Cooney, 8 Nick Timoney 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Sean Reidy, 5 David O’Connor, 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Matt Rea, 20 Greg Jones, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Ethan McIlroy.
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)
Assistant referees: Tom Foley (England), Phil Watters (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
Source: @ChampionsCup