An inspired second half display by Gloucestershire saw them brush aside Devon in the County Championship at the Brickfields on Saturday.
It was an unfortunate start to the encounter for Devon, whose Liam Bayley was forced off after only a couple of minutes of action through injury. Adam Northcott was brought on to replace him.
A much more experienced Gloucestershire side took less than 10 minutes to land the first blow of the game when Joe Short bundled over the line, before Tom Webb’s conversion went marginally off-target.
A solid response from Devon saw them threaten to pull level, and five minutes after they had conceded, they grabbed a try of their own. Max Keen reached over to score five for the men in green, while Cole Monahan’s conversion also missed.
At the end of a busy 12-minute flurry, the away side went back ahead through Short, and Webb this time made no mistake with the extras.
The second half got off to a perfect start from a red, white and black perspective when Lee Dangerfield drove over in the corner moments after Toby Baldry had been sent to the touchline for 10 minutes. Webb again made sure of the conversion.
Shortly after, Gloucestershire themselves took the pain of a yellow card when Will Allenby was dismissed for 10, but no score line damage resulted from it as his side continued to control the second half.
Ben Vincent strolled over with a little more than 10 minutes on the clock in the second half following some superb build-up play, and Webb’s successful kick gave them a 21-point advantage.
A beating quickly became a rout when Luke Macman flew over the line from close-range, while another conversion by Webb took the encounter further out of Devon’s reach.
Gloucestershire continued to run away with the encounter when a tackle off the ball denied a try-scoring opportunity, which earned Jake Smith a yellow card for his troubles.
Devon did eventually pull another one back when Lee Ryan sprinted over, but it was too little too late as Gloucestershire took a fantastic victory at the Brickfields.
