Exeter beat Gloucester to move up to third

Olly Woodburn scored his seventh try of the season and Exeter's third as they beat Gloucester at Sandy Park

Exeter moved up to third in the Premiership table with a 24-17 win over Gloucester at Sandy Park.

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.

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Exeter Chiefs: Hodge, Nowell, Whitten, Kata, Woodburn, Skinner, S. Maunder; Sio, Innard, Williams, Gray, Jenkins, Ewers, Kirsten, Fisilau.

Replacements: Frost, Kenny, Schickerling, Dunne, Davis, J. Maunder, Simmonds, O'Loughlin.

Gloucester: Carreras, May, Harris, Atkinson, Thorley, Twelvetrees, Meehan; Rapava-Ruskin, Blake, Gotovtsev, Jordan, Alemanno, Clement, Ludlow (c), Tuisue.

Replacements: Walker, Elrington, Ford-Robinson, Clarke, Morgan, Chapman, Seabrook, Evans.

Referee: Tom Foley.