Gloucester leave it late
Gloucester earned themselves a place in the semi-finals of the LV= Cup after scoring a 31-29 comeback win at Harlequins.
Last Updated: 07/02/10 5:57pm
Tim Taylor's conversion with the very last kick of the match earned Gloucester an enthralling 31-29 comeback win at Harlequins and a place in the semi-finals of the LV= Cup.
The Cherry and Whites, who needed a bonus-point win to top Pool Two ahead of Scarlets, had appeared to be on the ropes after going 20-0 behind after 25 minutes.
However, they proceeded to launch an epic comeback, scoring no fewer than five tries with the last coming from Tom Voyce in the 79th minute.
The full-back's score levelled the match and thus the stage was set for Taylor, who coolly slotted the crucial conversion between the posts.
Thus Harlequins were sunk, although they did require a somewhat improbable 11-try victory to edge ahead of Cardiff Blues in Pool Three.
Quins' fly-half Nick Evans nevertheless appeared to have paved the way for victory after netting a personal haul of 24 points - two tries, a conversion and four penalties.
Rampant
Both scores came as his side ran rampant in the first half but his three second-half penalties ultimately proved insufficient.
He put the first points of the board after five minutes with his first penalty, awarded after Gloucester were caught offside in front of their own posts.
Their first try came moments later when Evans kicked a penalty to touch, with hooker Matt Cairns stopped just short of the Gloucester line from the resulting lineout.
The Quins pack then drove lock James Percival over, with Evans converting.
The former All Black then scored the home side's second and it was an exquisite solo effort - Evans jinking round two Gloucester defenders before touching down.
However, his conversion rebounded from the upright.
Gloucester, for whom Taylor had missed a first-minute penalty, were struggling in the opening minutes and soon suffered another blow when referee Sean Davey lost patience following a number of infringements and sent hooker Darren Dawidiuk to the sin bin.
Harlequins exploited the situation, with number eight Tom Guest grabbing the ball from the base of a powerful scrum before releasing scrum-half Karl Dickson on a 40-metre run.
He then passed inside for Evans, who ran diagonally before diving over in the left-hand corner.
Gloucester finally came to life in the 31st minute with a try which involved Lesley Vainikolo, Voyce and James Simpson-Daniel.
Powerful surge
Vainikolo, playing in the centre, made a powerful surge at the Quins defence with Voyce supplying the final pass to Simpson-Daniel, who fended off opposing winger Ross Chisholm to score.
Harlequins' defence was found wanting six minutes later as Taylor ran through to touch down behind the posts having been missed by Lewis Stevenson.
The fly-half also converted both tries, meaning that Gloucester had cut the deficit to six points by the interval.
Evans kicked a penalty for Quins three minutes into the second half but they were soon a man down themselves after Argentinian lock Thomas Vallejos, making his debut and only on the field for seven minutes, received a yellow card.
Gloucester should have scored when they pushed the depleted Harlequins pack back over their own line, but Olivier Azam, who had recently replaced Dawidiuk, lost possession.
The visitors scored their third try in the 63rd minute after Voyce burst down the right before being tackled by Quins full-back Mike Brown - but still managing to flick the ball up for Simpson-Daniel to finish.
Centre Tim Molenaar then grabbed Gloucester's fourth try five minutes from time to set up the dramatic conclusion.