Slade kicks Exeter to dramatic win over Gloucester

Exeter Chiefs: (12) 25

Tries: Tuima, Jenkins, Townsend; Pens: Slade 2 Cons: Slade 2

Gloucester: (7) 24

Tries: Clement, Thorley, Varney, Atkinson; Cons: Barton 2

Henry Slade earned Exeter Chiefs a dramatic win against Gloucester with the final kick of the game.

Ollie Thorley, Louis Rees-Zammit and Seb Atkinson put Gloucester nine points ahead going into the last 10 minutes.

But Stu Townsend hit back with a try on his Exeter return before Slade held his nerve to seal the win with a penalty.

Slade’s kick ensured Exeter kept their 13-month unbeaten home run intact and made it four straight wins at Sandy Park to start the season.

It also lifted Chiefs to third in the table and consigned Gloucester to a cruel fourth straight defeat.

Gloucester found themselves a man down early on with Clement sin-binned for a high tackle on Tuima, who went on to dive over for the first points of the game while the visitors were still down to 14.

George Skivington’s side were dealt another blow with their first serious attack, with Albert Tuisue limping off injured after linking up with Micky Young in a move that included Rees-Zammit and Santiago Carreras, before the ball was fumbled close to the line.

Soon after it was Exeter who were reduced to 14 men, as Tuima was shown a yellow card for a high hit of his own, and it was Clement – back from his own stint in the sin-bin – who crossed the line to level for Gloucester.

Jenkins restored Exeter’s lead shortly after the half-hour mark, finishing a break after excellent work from Joe Hawkins and Slade helped put their captain over.

Carreras then put Thorley through a gap out wide as Gloucester levelled again after 56 minutes.

Fly-half George Barton sent the conversion attempt off the post in blustery conditions, but Slade made light of the wind to slot a penalty from near halfway to restore Exeter’s lead soon after.

Two tries in five minutes from Rees-Zammit and Atkinson appeared to put Gloucester on the cusp of upstaging Exeter, only for Townsend to come off the bench and score a try on his return from illness and injury with four minutes remaining.

Slade’s conversion made it 24-22 and with the Chiefs sensing an unlikely victory, Gloucester conceded a penalty, giving the 56-cap England international the opportunity to take the win with the final action of the match.

Exeter Chiefs: Wyatt; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Hawkins, Hammersley; Skinner, Cairns; Sio, Yeandle, Painter; Tuima, Jenkins (capt), Roots, Vermeulen, Davis.

Replacements: Frost, Abuladze, Iosefa-Scott, Pearson, Vintcent, Townsend, Haydon-Wood, Woodburn.

Sin-bin: Tuima (22)

Gloucester: Carreras; Rees-Zammit, Harris, S Atkinson, Thorley; Barton, Young; Vivas, McGuigan, Balmain; Clarke, Alemanno, Tuisue, Ludlow (capt), Clement.

Replacements: Socino, Elrington, Gotovtsev, Clark, Thomas, Varney, M Atkinson, Hillman-Cooper.

Sin-bin: Clement (1)

Referee: Ian Tempest