Newcastle cling on as Gloucester fightback narrowly falls short

Newcastle held off a spirited comeback from fellow strugglers Gloucester to earn their first Gallagher Prem win of the season with a 25-19 victory at Kingston Park.

George McGuigan opened the scoring for Newcastle and, with both teams reduced to 14 after Jamie Hodgson and Arthur Clark were sin-binned, Tom Christie bagged the hosts’ second try before Ollie Thorley replied for Gloucester.

Brett Connon’s penalty gave the Red Bulls a 15-5 lead at the break and following Simon Benitez Cruz’s try after the restart, Gloucester’s evening soured when Thorley was shown a 20-minute red card and Connon kicked another penalty.

The Cherry and Whites threatened a late comeback with tries from Mikey Austin and Ciaran Knight but Newcastle held on to clinch their first Prem win from nine outings.

An energetic start between the two basement clubs saw Gloucester apply some early pressure before Newcastle broke into opposition territory and from a lineout on the left, they used the maul to power over the line, with McGuigan touching down and Connon converting.

A scuffle broke out between Hodgson and Clark in the midfield, which resulted in both second-rowers being shown yellow in the 15th minute following a TMO consultation.

Only one minute later, Newcastle scored their second try of the night in a similar style to their opener as Christie went over from the maul, but Connon’s kick flew wide.

The visitors responded when a quick switch to the right allowed Seb Atkinson to slip through the Red Bulls’ defence and offload for Thorley to ground before Ross Byrne sent his conversion attempt wide.

Christian Wade looked bright on his Prem debut for Newcastle with some promising moves and Connon kicked a penalty straight down the middle to extend their advantage at half-time.

Benitez Cruz scored Newcastle’s third try shortly after the restart after breaking through the Gloucester line and weaving through the middle to cross by the posts, with Connon adding the extras.

The visitors’ evening took another twist when Thorley was shown a 20-minute red card for a head collision from the kick-off and after a good spell of pressure, Connon extended Newcastle’s lead to 25-5 from the tee.

Despite being a player down, Gloucester pulled one back following a great move from Cam Jordan to surge into space and pass into Austin, who dived over the line and Byrne converted.

The Cherry and Whites closed the gap further with eight minutes to play when Knight’s try was confirmed by the TMO, with Byrne adding the extras.

Another great move by the visitors saw them threaten on the tryline again but Newcastle navigated a nervy final few minutes to wrap up victory.