Resurgent Gloucester beat Quins for first win

Ben Redshaw's brace included a brilliant solo try to keep Gloucester in touch in the first half

The Prem

Gloucester (14) 26

Tries: Redshaw 2, Ludlow, Thorley Cons: Byrne 3

Harlequins (12) 15

Tries: Murley, Dombrandt Con: Smith Pen: Smith

Lowly Gloucester secured their first league win of the season, with an impressive 26-15 Prem win over a misfiring Harlequins at Kingsholm.

Following a scrappy start riddled with handling errors, the away team took the lead through Cadan Murley before Gloucester responded through Ben Redshaw's tremendous solo effort.

Alex Dombrandt restored Quins' lead from close range, before a moment of madness from Rodrigo Isgro gifted Lewis Ludlow a try on his 250th appearance for the Cherry and Whites.

Redshaw then claimed a deserved second after the break before Ollie Thorley put a gloss on the victory as Quins buckled in the closing stages.

Gloucester, like Quins, were desperate to secure league points after a disappointing start to the season, but they were pegged back early on.

Murley simply had to gather Evans' looped pass and stroll over the line after Dombrandt had come within inches of scoring a couple of phases earlier.

But Gloucester responded quickly.

From very little, Redshaw turned on the afterburners in midfield, outpaced four Quins defenders before sidestepping the final man for an outstanding try in response.

In an indication of the back-and-forth nature of the first half, Quins were soon over again.

Following a rolling maul in the Gloucester 22, Dombrandt proved the beneficiary as the hosts' defence crumbled once again.

Quins were decisive in taking their limited opportunities before the break, something that could not be said of Gloucester, who squandered various first-half chances to the increasing frustration of the home crowd.

But on the verge of half-time, Quins conceded a scarcely believable try.

With the ball kicked aimlessly forward by Gloucester, Isgro only had to gather the ball and kick it into touch.

Instead, he kicked the ball aimlessly towards Cameron Anderson, only succeeding in gifting the ball to Ludlow, who gathered and dived over to score what must have been the strangest try of his career.

Lewis Ludlow's score on half-time changed the game, with Gloucester dominating the second half

After the restart, Isgro was then fortunate to avoid receiving a yellow card for a deliberate knock on before Gloucester seized control of the game.

Following Thorley's break in midfield, the home team marched up to the Quins line, with Ross Byrne's bullet pass feeding Redshaw to go over in the corner untouched.

Gloucester then struck again.

A perfectly executed set-piece move from a scrum saw the ball pass through the hands of Tomos Williams, Byrne and Redshaw before ending up with Thorley who bumped off a defender to secure the home team's bonus point score.

Quins had a golden opportunity to reduce the deficit through Marcus Smith's late break, but Gloucester's scrambled defence prevented the visitors from adding any further points.

The result leaves Gloucester in ninth, but closes the gap to Harlequins, who are only two points ahead of them in eighth.

'Really proud' - Skivington

Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire:

"I'm just really proud of the lads and the staff – we've had a big month, we've worked really hard. We've tried to tighten our game up and I think the lads did a great job out there today.

"We would've taken a win at the start of the game, but I thought we deserved it at the end.

"Quins came back a few times and we had to fight really hard. But the fight, the attitude, the things we've talked about behind closed doors – I think they really shone through"

Gloucester: Redshaw; Russell, Joseph, S. Atkinson, Thorley; Byrne, Williams (c); Knight, Blake, Gotovtsev; Thomas, Alemanno, Gwynne, Ludlow, Trenholm.

Replacements: Freeman-Price, Rapava Ruskin, Fasogbon, Jordan, Basham, Austin, C. Atkinson, Cotgreave.

Harlequins: Anderson; Isgro, Beard, Evans, Murley; Smith, Porter; Baxter, Walker, Lamositele; Lewies, Treadwell, Cunningham-South, Evans, Dombrandt (c).

Replacements: Turner, Wenger, Delgado, Petti, Kenningham, Friday, Northmore, David.

Referee: Luke Pearce.