Sweeney nabs Gloucester late

ANOTHER display of maximum endeavour for zero reward ended with a penalty from Cardiff fly-half Ceri Sweeney which gave his side a one-point victory which on balance they probably deserved at Kingsholm.

A lack of basic nous was again to blame for the home side's inability to close a game out which they led with three minutes to go.

Instead of controlling the ball and running down the clock, Gloucester lost a line-out on their own throw and gave a penalty away within kicking distance, with Sweeney obliging to land his sixth kick from eight attempts and break the Cherry and Whites.

Stand-in blindside Adam Eustace was the culprit, as he stayed over the ball for a second too long and referee Rob Debney was left with no choice but to blow his whistle.

Gloucester's poor run continues – this their fourth defeat in competitive games, five if you include Australia. It was also a fourth consecutive defeat against Cardiff stretching back to the start of last season, and a third home defeat of a season only in early November.

You could argue it was the LV Cup, the third tier domestic competition, but this was the best side Gloucester could muster against a Cardiff outfit ruined by injuries and international call-ups.

Two teams unrecognisable from those which met three times last season took to the field, but it was the Cardiff youngsters who dealt better with poor conditions and a heavy Kingsholm pitch.

It had started so well for the Cherry and Whites. After fly-halves Sweeney and Nickiy Robinson had swapped early penalties, Gloucester produced two tries in two minutes, the first coming after a Cardiff line-out on their own line went wrong and Adam Eustace, a stand-in blindside for the day, pounced and rumbled over.

From the kick-off, Robinson broke away and a couple of phases later a chip through was not field by Cardiff full-back Sam Norton-Knight, with skipper Gareth Delve following up to go over on 17 minutes.

Two scores should have seen the confidence flood back in front of a small crowd, but instead Gloucester went back into their shells.

The missed conversion of the Delve try was Robinson's last contribution, as he left the field to be replaced by Carlos Spencer.

Minutes after coming on, Spencer missed a crucial tackle on Cardiff skipper Xavier Rush, who drove up the middle like a juggernaut to go over near the posts from 20 metres out on 21 minutes.

Sweeney and Freddie Burns, taking over the kicking duties, swapped two penalties each either side of half-time before another Spencer defensive error, this time missing Sam Norton-Knight after a simple switch back move from the Cardiff backs. Sweeney converted to put his side four points up, and it looked like they would go on to win easily.

But back surged Gloucester and two penalties from Spencer, their third kicker of the afternoon, gave them a two-point advantage with 10 minutes to go.

Cardiff surged into Gloucester territory, only fine defence keeping them at bay, Greg Somerville and Lesley Vainikolo both getting through an outstanding amount of work.

When Rush pounced on a loose ball from a scrum with 76 minutes on the clock and went over the line it looked to be the killer blow. But Debney called it back for offside and it seemed Gloucester had done enough.

But there was to be one last chance for the home side, handed to them by a poor line-out and a silly error from Eustace, the result a one-point defeat.

Gloucester: F Burns; J Simpson-Daniel, H Trinder, T Molenaar, L Vainikolo; N Robinson, R Lawson; P Doran-Jones, S Lawson, G Somerville; W James, D Attwood; A Eustace, A Strokosch (yellow card 33/43), G Delve (capt). Reps: D Dawiduik, Y Thomas, P Capdevielle (Doran-Jones 40), A Satala (Burns 61), A Qera (Strokosch 43), J Pasqualin, C Spencer (Robinson 18), J May (Simpson-Daniel 55).

Cardiff: S Norton-Knight; R Mustoe, G Thomas, G Evans, C Czekaj; C Sweeney, R Rees; D Morris, R Williams, T Filise; D Jones, S Morgan; B White, R Sowden-Taylor, X Rush (capt). Reps: R James (Evans 66), S Andrews, S Hobbs (Morris 45), J Down (White 79), J Nabidi (Sowden-Taylor 47), D Allinson, D James (Evans 67), D Flanagan.

Referee: R Debney (RFU)

Attendance: 6,099