Gloucester Premier

Cheltenham Saracens 53 Frampton Cotterell 15

A POOR spell at the start of the second half cost Frampton Cotterell dearly as they were beaten by high-flying Cheltenham Saracens.

Playing down the slope and with the wind in the first half, Frampton started well against Saracens, driving deep in to their opponents' 22 a number of times in the opening 10 minutes without getting across the line as the final pass proved illusive.

It was against the run of play when Saracens swept the ball wide left then right and Frampton's defence ran out of tacklers as they crashed over in the corner.

Frampton knew they had to get back in the game quickly and a couple of quick rucks saw Saracens offside, with Matt Lawrence converting the penalty to make it 5-3.

From the kick-off Frampton failed to control the ball and quick thinking by the Saracens scrum half saw them over the line again, making it 10-3.

Saracens were then on top for the next 10 minutes, with Frampton flankers Tom Johnson and Lee Poulton putting their bodies on the line to keep them at bay until a driving maul secured their third try, again unconverted.

Frampton then took charge and suddenly it was Saracens looking stretched in defence.

With the last play of the half, great pressure from centre Sam Warring saw him charge down a clearance kick and gather the ball to run in under the posts, converted by Lawrence to make it 15-10 at half-time.

For 15 minutes after the break, some loose kicks and lack of concentration in Frampton's defence saw Saracens run in five unanswered tries.

For the remainder of the second half Frampton tried everything to try and get through the Saracens defence, eventually scoring after a great counter-attack from Warring and Ben Walker with the forwards continually recycling the ball for Lawrence to canter round and score.

Frampton Cotterell scorers – Tries: Matt Lawrence, Sam Warring; Conversion: Matt Lawrence; Penalty: Matt Lawrence.