But Gloucester were just about worthy of the win for their overall control of the game throughout the 80 minutes.

A massive effort up front in the scrum was backed up by the calm play of Tim Taylor at fly half, who guided his team around the pitch and slotted 18 points with the boot.

The win makes it three from three for Gloucester United but a gruelling trip to Newcastle lies in wait next Monday evening.

Gloucester's pack were quickly in the ascendant, launching a powerful catch and drive which threatened the try line but which was dragged down illegally. Tim Taylor kicked the easy penalty.

And Taylor duly doubled the lead on eight minutes when the Tigers failed to release the tackled player as Gloucester continued their high tempo start.

It was all Gloucester and lovely interplay between Drew Locke and Ian Clark down the left flank a minute later saw the centre dive over for the game's first try. Taylor added an excellent touchline conversion.

There was a brief flurry from the Tigers but a knock on near their own line gave Gloucester a five metre scrum, and the relentless drive saw the visitors lose patience, kick the ball out of the scrum and concede a penalty try.

It had been a rough opening for the Tigers but they finally got their hands on some possession and earned a penalty opportunity for Matt Cornwell which was gratefully accepted. 20-3 after 24 minutes.

Gloucester had endured a quiet few minutes but good work down the right between Steph Reynolds and Drew Locke took play into the Tigers 22 and Billy Burns scooped up a loose ball to sprint home for the third try.

The response was immediate as the visitors claimed a high ball, made good ground down the left before switching play right for centre Javiah Pohe to break a tackle and score.

It was a good spell for the Tigers and Gloucester were forced on to the back foot as half time approached. Scrum half Brad Field was yellow carded but the home team held out.

However, the visitors started the second half powerfully, and a period of pressure near the line resulted in a try for flanker Richard Thorpe from a rolling maul to reduce the deficit to 25-13 before Field returned to the action.

And it was Field's quick thinking, as he took a quick tap penalty, which set up the position that led to Steph Reynolds diving over in the right hand corner for the bonus point try. Taylor added an excellent touchline conversion for 32-13.

The Tigers weren't done just yet though as winger Henry Purdy broke some tired looking tackles to score on the hour with Cornwell's conversion making it 32-20.

There was a potential for some anxiety to creep in but Taylor helped to settle them with a 66^th minute penalty which took Gloucester more than two scores clear.

But the nerve ends started jangling again when Thorpe crossed for his second try a couple of minutes before the end to secure Leicester's try scoring bonus point and get his team back to 35-27.

Taylor again calmed things down with his fourth penalty of the evening but the Tigers had the last word as lock Rob Andrew twisted his way to the line to secure a losing bonus point.