Back in 1998, a similarly super-charged atmosphere and a Gloucester team breathing fire and brimstone took out Leicester's finest with a last minute try and here again the home side were more than a sum of their parts to record a fantastic victory.

Against a physically bigger and heavier forward unit, Gloucester's lightweight and mobile forwards packed a serious punch to record a hugely convincing victory that lifts them to third in the Guinness Premiership.

There were times when Leicester's superior power threatened to swamp the home side, particularly when their ferocious driving maul was in full working order, but thanks to the efforts of Gary Powell, the tighthead prop, hooker Rob Elloway, Jonathan Pendlebury, James Forrester and James Merriman to name only five of the Kingsholm pack, Gloucester battled tooth and nail in close quarters to subdue the visitors.

Forrester was particularly outstanding. Capable of roughing it alongside with big fish in the Tigers' unit, he also got around the field, breathed life into plenty of attacks and generally made himself a right royal pain in the rear end with a performance that smacked of real class.

Merriman, on his first Guinness Premiership start, was afford a big bear-hug from head coach Dean Ryan when he made way in the second half to emphasis the size of his effort on the openside flank and throughout - with Jake Boer marshalling his men - Gloucester's collective hunger and desire won through.

They played the game in reverse to their usual style. By starting with the fluidity of Forrester and Merriman in place of the bulk of Buxton and Adam Balding, Gloucester attempted to run Leicester off their feet and in the end it worked but it was the visitors who made the better start.

Ian Humphreys kicked a first minute penalty following a series of scrums and through their maul, with Louis Deacon and Ben Kay heavily involved, churned up vast areas of the field to earn good position.

But, after 14 minutes, Gloucester made the telling breakthrough. Humphreys rolled a little kick behind Gloucester's defence and Jon Goodridge swooped to pick up and cut through past two defenders and into wide-open space.

Leicester desperately tried to retreat but with Kingsholm creating an earth-shattering din, Goodridge screamed into the 22 before Tom Varndell made the covering tackle. But the damage had been done and from the ruck, Mark Foster presented James Bailey with the simple score beneath the sticks at the Buildbase Stand end. 12,500 people went mad.

Ludovic Mercier converted to leave Gloucester 10-3 ahead and that soon became 10-6 when Humphreys slotted over again but Mercier's second penalty gave Gloucester a 13-6 advantage at the break.

They had been feverish in their commitment - one tackle by Terry Fanolua on Sam Vesty almost dented the full-back into the middle of next week - and as a unit they poured into tackles with a purpose and commitment that bordered on the remarkable.

With Mercier feeding off Simon Amor at scrum-half, Gloucester added nine more points in six second half minutes to open up a 22-6 lead. Two were for off-side and the third resulted in a yellow card for Ollie Smith, who was penalised for not rolling away in the tackle.

Suddenly, the game looked up for the Tigers. And when referee Wayne Barnes awarded a penalty try at the end of the third quarter following Gloucester's best scrummage of the night, Leicester were 29-6 behind.

However, they rallied with 11 minutes remaining and earned a try through Will Johnson following another well-driven line-out close to the Gloucester line.

But any hint of a recovery ended three minutes later when Gloucester scored again. Adam Eustace, Nick Wood, Fanolua, Buxton and Boer all sustained a powerful, defence-draining period of pressure inside Leicester's 22 and when the ball finally found its way left, Foster had enough space and gas to squeeze home in the corner.

Considering the number of players Gloucester had missing through injury and international commitments, it was some performance and the sell-out crowd lapped it up.

It means Ryan's men now sit in third place - above Leicester - ahead of their trip to Newcastle next weekend.

There was still time for replacement Ephraim Taukafa to grab a late score for the Tigers, but by then the party had already started at Kingsholm.