Lloyd sharp for Tigers

Leicester slid through to the quarter finals of the Tetley's Bitter Cup after a turf-tearing, mud-slinging, brutal and bloody contest. It was a meeting of muscularity that transcended the treacherous conditions. The only errors were the gaps in the crowd. The stay-aways missed a classic from first to last.

Leicester slid through to the quarter finals of the Tetley's Bitter Cup after a turf-tearing, mud-slinging, brutal and bloody contest. It was a meeting of muscularity that transcended the treacherous conditions. The only errors were the gaps in the crowd. The stay-aways missed a classic from first to last.

This was an old-fashioned encounter where physical presence and presence of mind mattered more than fancy-dan rugby. There was always something going on. But it was no more than was expected when two clubs with the Cup pedigrees that these Premiership sides possess clash.

The Leicester fans may have had problems in getting up a tug-o-war team to tackle the Shed's heavies (who won the best-of-three contest), but despite an impressive list of absentees which included three international wings and two back-row forwards, there was still plenty of quality on show in the Tigers' side. Gloucester too were without the odd big name, Jason Little and Ian Jones being rested.

The first few minutes could have been Las Vegas as the heavyweights on both sides threw some expert combinations. When both hookers were dispatched to the sin-bin the madness subsided - a little. The punching may have stopped but the big hits carried on: Steve Ojomoh's on Martin Johnson was exemplary. It would have knocked anyone else into the middle of next week, but Johnson stayed with the here and now, if a little gingerly initially.

The Gloucester driving was immense and provided them with their penalty try in the 10th minute after Tigers were adjudged to have collapsed the maul once too often. What with that and Byron Hayward's accurate kicking, it needed some characterful stuff from Leicester to get themselves not just on to the scoresheet, but back on near-level terms.

They did so following a lot of hard work and intense pressure which took Tigers almost to the line before a piece of quick thinking by Andy Goode saw him thump a cross-kick to the opposite wing, where Leon Lloyd gathered and fell over the line for the simplest of tries.

Although Tim Stimpson converted it, a later penalty miss left Leicester trailing by three at the interval. They were soon all square though when Stimpson landed a 45th-minute penalty. His subsequent two misses (one a penalty, the other a conversion) contributed greatly to the climax when Gloucester bounced back hard and in the right direction after Oliver Smith had benefited from the gap created while Joe Ewens was being treated in the middle of the field to run in his first senior try for the club.

Stimpson's missed kick left Gloucester tantalisingly close and they rose to the occasion. Chris Catling looked to have scored in the 79th minute but was deemed to have knocked on as he attempted to touch the ball down.

Before that there had been monumental efforts from everyone on the home side. Leicester seemed cursed to see nothing but red as the last quarter set the 5,617 crowd screaming in excitement. The home fans' disappointment when the ball popped out of a midfield confrontation deep into injury time and presented Leon Lloyd with his second try was palpable and cruel.

Gloucester: C Catling; R Jewell (C Yates, 56)), J Ewens, T Fanolua, T Beim; B Hayward, A Gomarsall; P Vickery (capt), C Fortey (J Djoudi, 72), A Deacon (S Sanchez, 72), R Fidler (E Pearce, 56), M Cornwell, J Boer (J Djoudi, 6-16; J Paramore, 68), S Ojomoh, A Hazell.

Leicester: T Stimpson; A Healey, O Smith (G Gelderbloom, 79), P Howard, L Lloyd; A Goode, J Hamilton; G Rowntree, D West (R Cockerill, 34), D Garforth, M Johnson (capt), B Kay, P Gustard (A Balding 10-15 (R Cockerill, 15-16)), W Johnson (A Balding, 54), L Moody.

Referee: B Campsall (Halifax).