Exeter moved up to third in the Premiership table with a 24-17 win over Gloucester at Sandy Park.
EXETER CHIEFS GET A WIN AT SANDY PARK
Gallagher Preimership Round 16
Exeter Chiefs 24 Gloucester 14
Exeter moved up to third in the Premiership table with a 24-17 win over Gloucester at Sandy Park.
Jonny Gray and Solomone Kata traded tries with Jonny May and Val Rapava Ruskin before Olly Woodburn put Exeter in front at the break.
A Harvey Skinner penalty stretched Exeter's lead to 10 points in a cagey second half.
Gloucester rescued a losing bonus point through a Santiago Carreras penalty in the last play of the match.
The visitors started the afternoon ahead of Exeter in fourth by just a point, having both won six and lost six matches this season so far.
Yet the win saw Exeter leapfrog the Cherry and Whites, who drop to fifth and continue to struggle away from home, having only won twice on the road since last January.
Scotland lock Gray opened the scoring for the Chiefs after 10 minutes, powering over from close range following an attacking scrum, after a check from the television match official confirmed he got the ball down.
Gloucester quickly drew level from a scrum of their own, moving the ball wide into the hands of May, who ran over unchallenged.
The scores continued to bounce back and forth, with centre Kata rolling over between two defenders to make it 14-7 for Exeter before Rapava Ruskin drew the Cherry and Whites level again from a driving maul.
Winger Woodburn had the final say before the break for Exeter, evading a tackle on the line for his seventh try of the season.
Exeter upped the pressure early in the second half and Skinner added a penalty for the hosts, but the match became scrappy as the sides traded kicks for long periods and struggled to string together any sustained attacks.
Jack Nowell narrowly missed a long pass that would have seen him surely score as Exeter pushed for the bonus-point try, but the match fizzled out before Carreras kicked a last-minute consolation for Gloucester.
Exeter are now in third place with 34 points. Saracens are running away with 56 points and Sale on 48 points. Below Exeter are Northampton on 33, Gloucester in fifth on 32 and sixth place is Harlequins on 31 points and Leicester Tigers in seventh on 30.
Exeter's next game is not until Saturday 26th February when Sale come to Sandy Park with a 1pm kick off.
Next Saturday sees the start of the Six Nations with Wales v Ireland at 2.15pm and England v Scotland at 4.45pm.
