 Anthony Allen set up James Simpson Daniel's late try |
Northampton 5 (5)
Try: Hartley
Gloucester 7 (0)
Try: Simpson-Daniel
Con: Walker
Substitute Willie Walker landed a late touchline conversion to give Gloucester a narrow victory over struggling Northampton at Franklin's Gardens.
Gloucester's James Simpson-Daniel crossed in the corner with just eight minutes left to level the scores after good work from Anthony Allen.
Northampton took an early lead when hooker Dylan Hartley was driven over in the terrible conditions.
But a failure to take any other chances ended up costing Saints dearly.
Northampton did not lack anything for effort and got the upper hand in the forwards on a waterlogged pitch.
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A line-out take from David Gerard after five minutes ended with Hartley being driven over by his pack.
Gloucester tried to create, with scrum-half Peter Richards making a couple of weaving breaks and winger Karl Pryce breaking several tackles in a powerful run.
But scoring chances were few and far between for either side, with Northampton going into the break with a 5-0 lead.
Gloucester offered more after the break but could not take their chances with Ryan Lamb and Allen both going close before spilling the ball.
But with time running out, the try finally came when Northampton failed to find touch with a clearing kick.
Mike Tindall set Allen away down the left and the centre broke a tackle before putting Simpson-Daniel away for a 20-metre dash to the line.
And Walker, who had only just come on as a replacement for Lamb, stroked over an invaluable conversion from the touchline.
Northampton coach Paul Grayson:
"We defended well but there's only so much defending you can do. Ultimately it was a one-on-one line-break that made the difference. "I can't really fault us for the effort we put in and Gloucester are as good a side as there is in the league.
"If we keep on playing like that we'll be hard to beat."
Gloucester coach Dean Ryan:
"These are the types of games you can lose, so I'm just glad we picked up four points and can move on. "Ryan Lamb and Anthony Allen made two or three breaks. On another day we might have got amongst them more.
"On that surface you're probably going to make mistakes so you just have to keep on playing."
Northampton: Spencer; Reihana (capt), Mallon, Kydd, Cohen; Myler, Robinson; Smith, Hartley, Tonga'uhia, Gerard, Damien Browne, Tupai, Fox, Hopley.
Replacements: Cortese, Budgen, Lord, Labit, Lewitt, Howard, Bourret.
Gloucester: Balshaw; Simpson-Daniel, Tindall, Allen, Pryce; Lamb, Richards; Wood, Azam, Nieto, Bortolami (capt), Brown, Buxton, Hazell, Narraway.
Replacements: M Davies, Califano, James, Eustace, Lawson, Walker, Bailey.
Referee: W Barnes (RFU)
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