THE BOUNCE of the ball still fails to fall in Worcester Warriors’ favour as struggling Gloucester edged past their local rivals with a 12-6 win at at Kingsholm.
The clash had to be pushed back half an hour after a piece of pre-match entertainment saw a giant inflatable ball knock down the crossbar.
However, Warriors, who are no strangers to delays having suffered with severe travel problems getting to Biarritz last week, coped well after the disruption as they went toe-to-toe with the hosts throughout.
Billy Twelvetrees’ boot proved to be the difference, though, as he coolly dispatched four penalties to secure Gloucester victory and condemn Worcester to a tenth straight Aviva Premiership defeat.
But director of rugby Dean Ryan said his side were not helped by what he described as “abysmal” officiating after fly half Paul Warwick was stopped agonisingly shot of the try-line in the dying moments.
“You would have to sit in front of a TV screen or you get your protractor out to see whether Paul touched the line,” Ryan said.
“That was a pivotal moment in the game, so for him (referee JP Doyle) to say it wasn’t a try with the naked eye in the speed it happened is ludicrous and then we go and get turned over.
“Either we have been held up over the line and we get a five metre scrum or we have got a situation where we have scored and they need to go to the TMO and have a look at it.”
Warriors could have also done without the pre-match Big Ball Challenge which led to a 30 minute delay after supporters accidently dislodged the crossbar.
Once play finally got underway, both sides quickly got off the mark as Ignacio Mieres’ kick cancelled out Twelvetrees’ first minute penalty.
But the pace of scoring soon dropped as the wet weather conditions made life increasingly difficult, while the fly halves both missed long range efforts.
A forward battle then ensured and it was the hosts who held the upper-hand. A powerful scrum offered up a chance for Twelvetrees to strike and he obliged to give the Cherry and Whites a 6-3 lead at half time.
But with only three points separating the two sides, Warriors sensed an opportunity to take the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half.
James Stephenson and Chris Pennell both looked bright with ball in hand, while Alex Grove’s grubber kick eventually led to a penalty. Mieres dispatched it and the game was locked at 6-6.
This appeared to give Warriors the platform to kick on, but as time wore on Gloucester began to turn the wide, with Twelvetrees edging his side in front on the hour mark.
The match then took a sudden twist with 15 minutes remaining. After hooker Chris Brooker was carried off, blood replacement Nick Seymour’s first introduction was to overthrow a lineout straight into the arms of Dan Robson.
A high tackle on the scrum half then resulted in Richard de Carpentier seeing yellow before Twelvetrees opened up a six point gap with his fourth successful penalty.
Despite going a man down, Warriors responded well as they mounted pressure in Gloucester’s half.
And with time running out, Ryan thought they had got their break. Warwick superbly sliced through a gap, but the home side just managed to deny the fly half from touching down before turning the ball over.
Jonny May was yellow carded late on for a challenge on an airborne Pennell, but Warwick’s chance was as close as Worcester came to snatching it.
Geoff Berkeley reporting from Kingsholm
