Gomarsall revels in the last drop

It is going to take a superhuman effort to beat Gloucester at home and even that may not be enough. Northampton gave everything and then some and still lost a war of attrition on a foul day. The very least the Saints deserved was a bonus point, but they were even denied that and by the most improbable means.

Gloucester have a marked man and his name is Ludovic Mercier. However, Andy Gomarsall, fielding a stray kick near the right-hand touchline and close to halfway, let fly and somehow 55 yards later the ball squirted over the Northampton bar.

Gomarsall, who will discover tomorrow whether he has beaten Matt Dawson to the England No 9 jersey, punched the air and gave a little dance of joy. In the absence of any tries, this extraordinary kick was a bonus for Gloucester and coming at 15-9, late in the game, it deprived Northampton of a point.

Few teams at Kingsholm have taken the game to Gloucester in the manner that Northampton did yesterday. From an early stage they made it patently clear that they were not going to lie down and the result was that the two heavyweight packs went head to head in a collision of the juggernauts.

In the end, Gloucester deserved their triumph, by five penalties and that dropped goal to three penalties. Gloucester, the leaders of the Zurich Premiership, were without their expensive convert Henry Paul. He withdrew after having a spasm in his neck yesterday morning and this (not the spasm) was no bad thing for the Cherry and Whites. It meant that South Africa's finest, Thinus Delport, appeared at full-back and a mighty fine job he made of it.

It was Delport's run with his first touch of the ball that enabled Gloucester to drive deep into enemy territory. From there they won a penalty which Mercier duly kicked. First blood to Gloucester, but they were in for something of a surprise. A few minutes later Adam Eustace was offside in attempting to collar Nick Beal and Paul Grayson levelled the scores. Mercier responded in kind to make it 6-3 after Robbie Morris had fallen offside before Delport linked with Marcel Garvey and the right wing left Dawson for dead before being caught on the Northampton 22. It is a pity that Gloucester did not give Garvey, whose form has earned him a place in the England squad, more opportunities. He looked full of running but rarely saw the ball. It was not that type of game.

Dawson, Mark Tucker and Budge Pountney were at the vanguard of an impressive Northampton attack. Like Garvey, James Simpson-Daniel on Gloucester's other wing had few chances in attack, but in defence he showed that he still has a lot to learn.

When Beal hoisted a high ball deep into Gloucester territory, Simpson-Daniel fumbled it and compounded the error by throwing a hopeless pass in front of the posts. But for some desperate work in defence by an increasing number of bodies, he would have conceded a try. As it was, Grayson landed a second penalty to make it 6-6 and was just wide with a long- range effort after smart play by Ben Cohen.

For a while Northampton managed the considerable feat of silencing Kingsholm, mounting a series of raids in which their forwards won seven phases of possession. It was straight out of the Gloucester manual. The sustained pressure ended when Beal put in a grubber-kick, which Gomarsall read and cleared.

Northampton also might have done better when their captain, John Leslie, made one of the few clear-cut breaks of the match but ultimately the move ended with a James Forrester interception. Gloucester did not get off scot-free, conceding a penalty which, in the absence of Grayson who went off with a muscle injury to his right leg, was kicked by Dawson to make it 6-9 at half-time.

Four minutes after the interval Gloucester were level with another Mercier penalty. However, the Frenchman's kicking out of hand was abysmal and it was left to the Gloucester forwards to take the game, at times literally by the scruff of the neck. The front row began to turn the screw and the Northampton scrum became more and more uncomfortable. When the Saints' forwards were penalised for entering a maul on the wrong side, Mercier kicked a fourth penalty and a fifth soon followed, Dawson falling offside under intense pressure close to his line.

The battle was being increasingly fought in Northampton territory and the last thing they expected was a long-range shot in the 76th minute from Gomarsall.

After relinquishing their unbeaten record to Wasps at High Wycombe last week when they were reduced to 14 men, Gloucester were determined that normal service would be resumed, especially at Kingsholm, where they have not been beaten for more than a year. Incentive enough, but what caused Phil Vickery, their captain, to comment that defeat against Northampton would be a "massive blow'' was the disruption Gloucester will suffer over the next month due to the autumn international programme.

Helping England's cause will weaken the Cherry and Whites for Premiership matches against London Irish, Leicester and Leeds, as will the absence of the lock Adam Eustace, who faces a disciplinary tribunal on Thursday after being dismissed for kicking the Wasps stand-off Alex King.

Gloucester 18 Northampton 9
Pens: Mercier 5 Pens:Grayson 2, Dawson
Drop: Gomarsall

Half-time: 6-9 Attendance: 11,000

Gloucester: T Delport; M Garvey, T Fanolua, R Todd, J Simpson-Daniel; L Mercier, A Gomarsall; T Woodman, O Azam (C Fortey, 68), P Vickery (capt), A Eustace (E Pearce, 78), M Cornwell, J Boer, J Paramore (P Buxton, 37), J Forrester.

Northampton: N Beal; J Sleightholme, M Tucker, J Leslie (capt), B Cohen; P Grayson ( J Brooks, 35), M Dawson; T Smith, S Thompson, R Morris (M Stewart, 40; C Budgen, 74), J Phillips (M Soden, 74), M Connors, A Blowers, G Seeley (R Hunter, 55), B Pountney.

Referee: J Kaplan (SA).