Aviva Premiership: Gloucester 18-19 Leicester
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 30/01/16 6:08pm
Tommy Bell kicked Leicester to a dramatic 19-18 victory at Kingsholm as Gloucester folded after Ben Morgan was sin-binned.
With Gloucester leading 18-12 with four minutes remaining, Morgan saw yellow following an off-the-ball challenge on winger Telusa Veainu, and Tigers punished the ill-discipline by snatching victory through a try from substitute prop Logovi'i Mulipola and Bell's conversion.
The win lifts Leicester above Harlequins into third in the Premiership, while Gloucester find themselves in eighth place despite dominating in the European Challenge Cup. It will be a tough loss for Gloucester to take, as they led for 79 minutes before Bell's conversion handed them a dramatic defeat.
Leicester dominated initial possession and territory, starving Gloucester of possession while keeping them pinned in their own half, but they missed a fifth-minute chance to go ahead when Freddie Burns sent a penalty attempt wide.
Leicester's defensive organisation initially proved frugal, but Gloucester finally found a way through after 21 minutes - and then added a second try barely 60 seconds later.
Hook eluded four tacklers in a short-range dart to the line for a try that he also converted, before centre Billy Meakes made initial headway after the restart for Gloucester to ship possession wide with Morgan touching down in the corner.
Hook saw his touchline conversion attempt bounce back off the post, but at 12-0 ahead, Gloucester appeared in control.
However Burns then inspired a score for his side, with a kick and chase into Gloucester's half leading to Tom Croft moving forward before Ayerza dived over unmarked. Burns completed his contribution with a conversion to cut the deficit to five points.
But Gloucester finished the half on top, with Hook kicking a penalty after Bell was punished by referee JP Doyle for not releasing possession, to hand Gloucester a 15-7 lead at half-time.
Hook continued to challenge the Leicester defence by mixing his attacking game, and he was largely responsible for ensuring Gloucester maintained front-foot control of the game in the early stages of the second half.
But Leicester guaranteed the game would have a tense finale when Bell caught the ball deep inside his own half, and wing Peter Betham set off on a run before substitute Jordan Crane linked and Veainu claimed a try.
Burns failed with the conversion, and when Hook slotted a penalty nine minutes from time it meant Gloucester led by six points.
Gloucester edged towards victory before Morgan was then yellow-carded for his challenge on Veainu, which meant Leicester had numerical supremacy, and they made it count through the try and steely conversion from Bell to steal an unlikely win.