at Kingsholm
Exeter Chiefs came within a whisker of recording their second Aviva Premiership victory at fortress Kingsholm in the space of nine months.
That they failed in their mission was arguably largely down to the performance of rookie Premiership referee Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts.
Taking charge of only his eighth top-flight match, he gave a series of penalties against the Devon side that infuriated the Chiefs' head coach Rob Baxter, sat at the back of the main grandstand.
I do not think I have ever seen the Exeter boss so animated during a game, and the two controversial penalties the diminutive official awarded Gloucester at the start of the second half, which edged them into a 12-6 lead, were particularly telling blows.
The referee was not helped by his touch judges, either, but Gloucester also had good reason to feel aggrieved at some of the decisions that went against them.
However, Baxter was correct to not solely blame the referee for Exeter coming up just short of a side who had only lost once at Kingsholm all season – and that was on the opening day of the campaign to Northampton Saints.
They had issues at scrum time in the first half, with that particular department producing four Gloucester penalties in the opening period.
Both sides also struggled to secure their own line-out ball in the wet and windy conditions.
The penalties did for Exeter, though, especially with England fly half Freddie Burns having an impressive afternoon with his boot, slotting six out of eight attempts at goal to register all of his side's points, in addition to some sublime touch-finders out of hand.
The first half was all about the two goal-kickers, with Burns slotting two penalties for Gloucester, either side of a brace of successful kicks for his opposite number Gareth Steenson, who edged ever-closer to 1,000 points for the Chiefs with 11 points during the game, taking him to 84 for the Premiership season, with the scores tied at 6-6 at the break.
Exeter were unfortunate that the elements seemed to go against them at the interval, with the strength of the wind blowing into their faces in the second half increasing, accompanied by driving rain.
They must also have felt they were playing against 16 men, with Apgeraint-Roberts awarding Gloucester three kickable penalties in the space of six minutes, of which two appeared hugely questionable, with Burns knocking over two of them, and seeing the other come back off an upright.
A six-point deficit was a sizeable mountain to climb in such poor weather conditions, but Exeter set about their task in impressive fashion.
Steenson reduced the gap to three points with a 25-metre penalty after 51 minutes, and that was followed seven minutes later by arguably Exeter's try of the season.
It was not a score of great beauty, there were no sizzling 40-metre breaks, or outrageous out-the-back-of-the-hand passes, but it had "Exeter" stamped all over it.
The Chiefs went through 21 phases of play, showing great handling skills to keep control of a slippery ball, as they pounded away at the Gloucester defence, before hooker Simon Alcott received possession on phase 22 and forced his way over beside the posts, for his second try in two weeks, but his first in the Premiership this season.
Steenson added the simple conversion, and Exeter suddenly led the Cherry and Whites 16-12 and looked on course to extend their winning streak to eight matches in all competitions.
However, Gloucester, who themselves had only lost one of their previous six games, were in no mood to disappoint their supporters so close to Christmas, and worked their way back into the contest, with a little bit more help from the man in the middle.
They were awarded three more penalties in a 14-minute spell for ruck offences, and, after squandering the first opportunity from 30 metres, Burns regathered himself to deliver three-pointers after 65 and 74 minutes to put Gloucester 18-16 ahead.
The Chiefs had little opportunity to respond, as the hosts piled on the pressure in the closing stages.
It was only some heroic defending that kept Gloucester out and meant Exeter at least had the consolation of heading back down the M5 with a losing bonus point to show for their efforts.
