By kwin
December 28 2003

8-14 up at Kingsholm, with 20 minutes to go, the Quins fans in our corner of the grandstand were on the edge of their seats with a scent of victory in their nostrils when this most exciting of games turned in two brief moments.

First, with Gloucester attacking hard, the pack were battling against a determined drive, and things were getting feisty when suddenly Jim Evans emerged from the Glaws side of a maul twisting and turning like a wounded bear, shirt pulled over his head,  flailing at two Gloucester players hanging from his shoulders.  I didn't see how it started, and perhaps Spreadbury missed it also, because Jim and Chris Fortey both received their marching orders, Henry Paul converting the penalty as they trudged off, blood streaming from Jim's face.

OK, on paper that needn't have been a turning point - we were still evenly matched at fourteen men each - but nevertheless I was filled with foreboding:  if you're winning, a sudden change in the parameters of the game is not generally good news.

And so it seemed.  11-14 and from the restart we applied pressure well, with the forwards driving up the field with an appetite and determination before disaster struck: - 4th or 5th phase ball and a strong attacking position, it came recycled to the backs only for a wild cross-kick from left to right - sliced straight into the arms of Thinius Delport about 60m out, and three on one.  "I think it's on here!" said a fan behind me. No kidding. Delport and Sinbad set off for the line. To be fair, from there it was an excellent try as the two of them, with Boer, swapped and passed until Woodman received the ball and went over - but really it was gifted: the problem wasn't so much the slice, but with the far side of the pitch crowded with Cherry and White shirts, the decision to kick at all was horribly mistaken. Naturally  the try was under the posts, naturally  Paul converted. 18-14 down, and though the team never gave it up, it was hard to see Glos conceding a lead a Kingsholm, so close to the end..

Even so, it was a superb Christmas afternoon.  It was only my first Away game this season, but my second visit to Kingsholm in 2003, and much more entertaining than the last. Unlike last season, where I stood in the stands for this game we'd secured seats in the grandstand. The £25 price tag was par, but with no reduction for the five children in our group the total cost worked out somewhat pricey.

Kingsholm was another post-world-cup sell out, and with huge ZP crowds up and down the country our group of 12 may not even have been unusual featuring, as it did, no fewer than six at their very first Rugby Union Club  game, none who'd been to Kingsholm more than once before and only two of us that could be called regulars. On top of this, two of the children were kitted out in shiny brand-new Gloucester shirt, hats and scarf ensembles, which my children quite flatly refused to believe had been delivered by Santa - who is indisputably, from first hand experience, a Quins man. to the core.  

In all, this collection of extremely excited and enthusiastic newcomers, keenly picking out the RWC heroes in the teams, were the marketing man's dream; and you couldn't have picked a more exciting and enjoyable game to turn the newbies into regular fans - anyone who's been to Kingsholm will know that the atmosphere is phenomenal, and right from the start,  the home team's pre-game circuit of the pitch creating a roar that's enough to make the spine tingle (why don't we try that at the Stoop?) and the fast-paced ding-dong match lived up to the build-up.

In the event, Quins started well, with most of the possession and most of the territory. I was inordinately  pleased to see us kicking off with a planned-move as Dunne changed direction to kick it accurately to Jewell on the wing. Alas Rob fumbled, but I think the idea showed confidence and panache.

Conditions were pretty awful - although it had stopped raining, the pitch was a mud-bath-  and I was astonished to see both sides resolutely play a running, passing game....and both teams therefore knocking on slipping and fumbling time and again.  A dead-quick pass to Bell was dropped; Vos broke through with a great run, and a silky delayed pass...which was dropped. At about 8 mins Glaws found themselves attacking strongly, just 10m from the Quins line. We turned over the maul, and Bemand shot a bullet like pass back over our own try-line to....Ace who knocked it on. Fortunately at the 5m scrum it was Glos' turn to fumble, and from that Duffy and Keogh made a fine 90m break before Garvey gathered.

Things were still evenly matched and the Quins pack were looking impressive in the loose, but less so in set pieces. A marvellous Thing Of Beauty made us 20-30m, but we couldn't force it over the line despite much vocal encouragement from the handful of Quins fans in our corner of the stand; At 26 mins, it was Glaws turn to fumble, and Dunne put through a perfect grubber kick for Greenwood to chase. Swiftly overtaking McRae, with the ball bouncing stickily on the mud McRae seemed to hesitate and Will had the presence of mind to dive, well before the line, relying on his momentum to easily take him to the ball, and then some 5m or more further along the slippery ground to score.  0-7.

Ahead at Kingsholm, and I thought the Gloucester team looked rattled, and we enjoyed some nail-biting end to end stuff with both sides attempting a free-flowing game that the conditions didn't really dictate.

A break for an injury gave the man-with-the-mike time to announce the scores from other game, but this seemed to break the players' concentration as on resumption we gifted Glos a score with of all things, a scrum lost against the head. Actually it  was the second of these  (if I'm right) and one of three that afternoon. Anyway, backs caught unprepared, a kick-through was collected by Simpson Daniel to score in the corner. 5-7.

Shortly afterwards saw Dunne down injured for some time after - I think - catching a boot to the head in a tackle, before in the final move of the half we again capitalised on a Glos error to kick through, and Will chased for the line, breaking his stride to kick on, he was overtaken by the pursuing defence who took it over their own line, but we were denied the 5m scrum when Spreadbury - normally Mr Injury time personified, blew up unexpectedly for half time.  5-7 ahead, and it was a chance to collect a pint from the astonishingly uncrowded - and tremendously traditional -  clubhouse bar, after visiting the unfortunately very crowded, and very traditional club toilets.

Our second try, shortly after half time was very pleasing - another kick and chase with Pat Sanderson prominently gathering and carrying the ball, and laying off for Ceri Jones to score amidst a deathly silence from the Shed, quieter even than the disciplined hush for the kickers. 

8-14.  Evans brought on Hayter, Rudzki and Dawson, and the grandstand rose respectfully to their feet and applauded Jason off the pitch.  It was still scrappy and both sides attempted kick and chases, Quins managing to slice the kick part of it, and Garvey finding Harvey running on his shoulder on the left wing. Then the brace of the red-cards and the game turned.

Afterwards Quins never gave up. A penalty on 72mins brought us right back in it at 18-17, and two straightforward penalty misses from Henry Paul allowed us a second and third chance, but try as we might we were pinned back in our own half, far from drop goal range

At the death, Keogh collected a long kick deep in our own 22 and set off at a searing pace across the front of goal. He broke through, slipping two tackles and for a moment it looked as if we'd snatch an unlikely victory, but even if Spreadbury had have missed the forward pass which came next (and he did miss a few!) the combined shout of the 6000 voices in the shed was enough to alert him, and he blew his final whistle with just two minutes of injury time played....despite a prolonged break for a stretcher earlier in the half.

So, a highly disappointing result, from game that really could have been anyone's. Sitting in the traffic afterwards I read my Shedhead, and studied the excellent programme and tried to remember whether I had been present on 6 Feb 2001 - the last time we beat Gloucester in the league.

What can we take away from it? Some fine spirited play, a tremendously dogged, never-give-up attitude, and a very, very welcome return for an on-form Will Greenwood. Keogh again looked a class act, and in the scrum I enjoyed positive performances from Ace, Ceri and Pat Sanderson, buoyed up from his England success.  Overall, if we play like that every game, I reckon we'll make the Heineken Cup next season. 

On the negative side - the scrums. Two, or three, against the head is not acceptable, and I'll be interested to hear the coaches view on what went wrong there, and also the lineouts still need work.

Through the game, I attempted an Opta Stats analysis of both sides' line-outs.  The main thing I learned was that stats are harder to tally than you might think (!) but I made it (very approximately) that we won 8 of 14 lineouts on our own ball. I'm sure that's not the correct stat...but I'm equally sure that the lineout needs some work.

But overall I was pleased, and I don't see why we shouldn't beat Newcastle on Sunday, notwithstanding their great result against Saints today.