Second half show saves Gloucester
Bryan Redpath’s Gloucester did just enough on Sunday afternoon against Leeds Carnegie, struggling their way to a 26-10 win at Headingley in their Guinness Premiership encounter.
Mike Tindall created one try and scored another as the visitors ended a dismal run of three successive losses and condemned bottom club Leeds to their fourth successive Premiership defeat.
The England centre’s superb break sent James Simpson-Daniel over in the 54th minute and the 30-year-old Yorkshireman touched down himself in the last minute as the Cherry and Whites fought back from a 10-6 interval deficit to seal victory.
Leeds, who have now lost four matches in succession since their opening-day draw at home to Newcastle, led inside the third minute when young flanker Tom Denton finished off a fine sweeping move.
Gloucester were dire in a hugely disappointing first half but they woke up after the restart and hooker Olivier Azam touched down in the 51st minute before Simpson-Daniel’s predatory effort put them in control and skipper Tindall added a late third.
Leeds, who had Hendrie Foure and Ceiron Thomas sinbinned either side of half-time, will rue their failure to build on their interval advantage against a Gloucester side still struggling for form.
Denton’s early try encouraged hopes they could carve out a much-needed victory.
Debutant centre Seru Rabeni, who only moved to Headingley after being rejected by the Cherry and Whites, illustrated his quality in the third minute.
Rabeni showed some neat footwork and impressive pace to surge past a clutch of Gloucester defenders and find Jon Goodridge in support.
The full-back kept the move flowing with a short offload to returning captain Marco Wemtzel and his perfect pass found Denton advancing at pace to saunter clear from 20 metres out.
Denton, the latest product of Leeds’ conveyor belt of talent that produced Danny Care, Jordan Crane and Rob Vickerman, had just enough pace to hold off Tom Voyce and touch down for his first Premiership try.
Thomas added the conversion before a penalty from Robinson got Gloucester off the mark in the seventh minute.
Robinson kicked another three-pointer in the 15th minute but Gloucester struggled to knit together many meaningful sequences of play.
Too often passes were misplaced or undercooked and a penalty for Leeds in the 17th minute which Thomas converted offered further hope the hosts could carve out a victory.
Leeds lost openside flank Fourie to the sinbin in the 31st minute for conceding a succession of penalties.
Robinson missed another penalty before the break to cap a disappointing opening period but the match ignited after the restart.
After Thomas was shown a yellow card for pulling back Freddie Burns, Gloucester edged ahead in the 51st minute when Azam emerged from a thicket of players to touch down.
Robinson added the conversion and it got better for the visitors two minutes later when Tindall was afforded the freedom to gallop through midfield and send Simpson-Daniel in at the left corner.
Robinson could not convert from a difficult angle but the two quick tries gave the Cherry and Whites an advantage they did not relinquish.
Robinson added another penalty in the 73rd minute to give his side further breathing space.
In the last minute, Tindall drove through another gap in the Leeds defence to cross in the right corner, though Robinson could not convert.
The Scorers
For Leeds Carnegie
Tries: Denton
Pen: Thomas
Cons: Thomas
For Gloucester
Tries: Azam, Simpson-Daniel, Tindall
Pen: Robinson 3
Cons: Robinson
Yellow Cards: Hendre Fourie (Leeds Carnegie – 30 min), Thomas (Leeds Carnegie – 41 min)
The teams:
Leeds Carnegie: 15 Jon Goodridge, 14 Richard Welding, 13 Jonny Hepworth, 12 Seru Rabeni, 11 Lee Blackett, 10 Ceiron Thomas, 9 Andy Gomarsall, 8 Alfie To’oala, 7 Hendrie Fourie, 6 Tom Denton, 5 Marco Wentzel (captain), 4 Erik Lund, 3 Juan Gomez, 2 Phil Nilsen, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements: 16 Vili Ma’asi, 17 Alex Moreno, 18 Tommy McGee, 19 Calum Clark, 20 Rhys Oakley, 21 Scott Mathie, 22 Henry Paul, 23 Luther Burell.
Gloucester: 15 Tom Voyce, 14 James Simpson-Daniel, 13 Mike Tindall (captain), 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Adam Eustace, 7 Andrew Hazell, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Paul Doran-Jones 2 Olivier Azam, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawiduik, 17 Shaun Knight, 18 Pierre Capdevielle, 19 Peter Buxton, 20 Akapusi Qera, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Olly Morgan.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth (14th Premiership game)
