Gloucester strengthen top four position
PREMIERSHIP REPORT: Billy Twelvetrees kicked a late penalty to give Gloucester Rugby a hard-fought 20-17 win at Newcastle Falcons and strengthen their position inside the Premiership's top four.
The centre finished with two penalties and two conversions, while Ed Slater and Ben Morgan crossed for tries at a packed Kingston Park.
Vereniki Goneva scored Newcastle’s only try and Sonatane Takulua kicked four penalties, helping them lead for large spells of the match.
But they will spend Christmas Day bottom of the table, two points off Worcester Warriors, ahead of next week’s game at Bristol Bears.
Twelvetrees and Takulua exchanged penalties in the opening 15 minutes but Gloucester took control as the half progressed in a tight game, where free-flowing rugby was at a premium.
Charlie Sharples, the league’s top try scorer, made his 250th appearance for the Cherry & Whites but he was kept quite for much of the contest.
Still, Gloucester took the lead on the strike of half-time, taking full advantage of a penalty. They kicked to the corner and several phases later lock Slater burrowed over from close range.
Newcastle came out firing in the second half and went back ahead when full-back Simon Hammersley made a surging run and passed to Goneva to score.
The noise inside Kingston Park increased by several decibels and Newcastle kept the pressure on, forcing penalties and suffocating Gloucester inside their own half.
Takulua kept the scoreboard ticking over for Newcastle but Gloucester dealt in tries and pulled level again when Ben Morgan went over from close range.
And Twelvetrees took advantage of a breakdown infringement to kick the winning points.
The scorers:
For Newcastle Falcons:
Try: Goneva
Pens: Takulua
For Gloucester:
Tries: Slater, Morgan
Cons: Twelvetrees 2
Pens: Twelvetrees 2
Teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Alex Tait, 10 Toby Flood (captain), 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 John Hardie, 6 Gary Graham, 5 Tevita Cavubati, 4 Calum Green, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 Kyle Cooper, 1 Sam Lockwood.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Trevor Davison, 18 David Wilson, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Ryan Burrows, 21 Michael Young, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Tom Arscott
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Tom Hudson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Freddie Clarke, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Ed Slater (captain), 3 Ciaran Knight, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Josh Hohneck.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Tom Savage, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Trinder, 23 Jaco Kriel.
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales & Philip Watters.
TMO: Sean Davey.
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