GLOS GLADIATORS 36 WORCESTER ROYALS 0
A HAT-TRICK from Dan Gliding sealed the win for the Gloucester Gladiators at a sunny Folley against Worcester Royals.
Three touchdowns for Gilding and a full house of extra points for Tom Reeve saw the Gladiators earn a commanding 36-0 victory.
It was the final match in the university American football season and the Gladiator started as favourites based on previous form.
However, they were made to work hard for the win by a small but well disciplined Royals squad.
The fierce rivalry between both squads was evident from the beginning, with no prisoners taken.
Early in the first quarter, the Gladiators offence gained big yardage but the visitors defence held firm to deny them points.
More than 200 spectators had to wait until late in the second period to applaud a Gloucester score.
A fake and pass by quarterback Chris Rowe to his favourite receiver Gilding resulted in a Gladiators touchdown.
The extra point from kicker Reeve put them 7-0 ahead.
Things were looking good for Gloucester but a period of ill discipline resulting in more than 30 yards of penalties saw a revival by the Royals.
However, with only 70 seconds to go to the half-time whistle the Gladiators regained possession.
Although Rowe was forced to juggle with the ball, he was still able to fire off a pass to Rhodri Williams, who ran in a touchdown.
Reeve's kick added the extra point and the Gladiators led 14-0 at half-time.
The third quarter started with a flurry with the Royals losing possession from the kick-off, but the Gladiators offence couldn't make anything of the advantage gained.
Another period of indiscipline and a series of penalties from both sides resulted in Gloucester possession on the Royals' 15-yard line.
On first down Rowe found Gilding for his second touchdown and the extra point was made good by Reeve, putting the game beyond Royals' reach at 21-0.
Going into the fourth quarter, the wear and tear on the small Worcester squad began to tell and a 15-yard penalty put the Gladiators within striking distance of their endzone.
On the fourth down a sneak and pass by Rowe put Gilding in for his third touchdown of the day and the extra point was again added by Reeve to make it 28-0.
The most exciting part of the afternoon, came near the end.
The Royals quarterback's pass was intercepted by Paul Romaniuk, who skipped in for a touchdown.
A spur of the moment trick play saw Reeve run in for two points to complete the scoring.