The Cornish Pirates followed their hefty defeat at home to Exeter Chiefs with another Premiership Cup loss, writes Phil Westren.
It was Gloucester who kicked the game off.
Flanker Will Gibson made it over the line for the game’s opening try, with fly-half Bruce Houston adding the extras.
Gloucester would hit back when Ollie Thorley scored a try converted by Rory Taylor.
Shortly after, following pressure applied by the Pirates, it was former Pirates prop Alfie Petch, who was shown a yellow card.
Hopes were high that the Pirates would benefit from a numerical advantage, but in what was proving an evenly contested affair, it was not to be.
After the Pirates perhaps squandered a couple of scoring opportunities, they were given a lift when first Bokenham stopped Thorley in his tracks, and then former Pirates hooker Morgan Nelson was hit hard by lock Eoin O’Connor, before being soon after driven into touch.
Approaching halftime, it was an unconverted try from centre Max Knight that gave the Cherry & Whites a 12-7 lead at the break.
Looking for a good start to the second half, the Pirates duly obliged, when flanker Josh King scored the team’s second converted try of the match, which put the Pirates back in the lead.
The crowd was now well warmed up, and play would become a little feisty.
In short time Gloucester scored tries through centre Morgan Adderly-Jones and Nelson, both of which were converted by Taylor.
Pirates’ replacement hooker Sol Moody’s first try for the club, which was converted by Houston, reduced the deficit, before any perceived advantage was cancelled out by Gloucester wing Jack Reeves.
Into the last few minutes, good play from Pirates’ replacement scrum half Dan Hiscocks led to Moody being on hand to score his second.
If the score stayed at 33-28, then the Pirates would at least get two points from the match, but there was still a little time left.
It was cruelly not to be, as Taylor made no mistake with a penalty attempt that followed from in front of the posts.
Cornish Pirates’ joint head coach Alan Paver said: "It was competitive from start to finish and our lads will be proud of what they did out there.
"We were in the game throughout, but it was just those small little things, and at the end of the day it wasn’t quite enough to get over the line."
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