EUROPEAN CUP/Round-Up: French outhalf Ludovic Mercier scored 23 points as Gloucester edged nearer to the European Cup quarter-finals with a 33-16 win over Perpignan to preserve their 100 per cent record in Pool Two.
Wing Marcel Garvey weighed in with two tries, but Gloucester will require a significant improvement when they visit Perpignan in next Saturday's return fixture.
The Zurich Premiership leaders only played in patches, and much of the attacking adventure came from the French club, who were well orchestrated by their Australian outhalf Manuel Edmonds.
Although a Gloucester defeat was never seriously on the cards, Phil Vickery's team are not playing with the same degree of control or fluency they displayed in September.
Gloucester began their European campaign with sparkling victories over Munster and Viadana, and next weekend's trip to the south of France could dictate the final outcome of their qualifying group.
Despite Garvey grabbing the second-half honours with his try double, it was Mercier who kept Perpignan at a safe distance.
After kicking penalties in the seventh and 14th minutes, he ghosted through Perpignan's defence for a fine try which he also converted after visiting prop Renaud Peillard had been sin-binned by Welsh referee Nigel Williams for a scrummaging offence.
Williams, who awarded 38 penalties or free-kicks in total, kept a tight grip on proceedings, and the first half ended with Edmonds and Mercier exchanging penalties.
Perpignan came out firing for the second period, and Gloucester only just prevented them from scoring a try after Canadian number eight Phil Murphy caught the kick-off and galloped 50 metres through some weak tackling.
Edmonds booted two more penalties before Mercier once again found the target, but Gloucester's 19-9 lead was unconvincing entering the final quarter. That, though, was the cue for proven finisher Garvey to leave his mark on the match.
His first try came after 61 minutes when he rounded off an outstanding forward drive by collecting scrum-half Andy Gomarsall's pass, but the second score was pure genius.
He received the ball 30 metres out, and weaved his way through the Perpignan defence as if by magic.
Glasgow's hopes of qualification were hanging by a thread following their 35-21 defeat by Bourgoin-Jallieu in France. They could not find enough answers to the power and pace of Bourgoin at Stade Pierre Rajon and now need a sequence of freak results to have any chance of squeezing into the quarter-finals.
Defending champions Leicester put their stuttering Premiership form behind them to secure a valuable 24-12 victory in perfect conditions at Beziers yesterday.
Second-half tries from centre Ollie Smith and winger Leon Lloyd split the two sides and put Leicester in the driving seat in the push for a place in the quarter-finals.
With Pool One rivals Neath crashing at Amatori & Calvisano yesterday, the Tigers' progress to the next round seems assured.
They lead the pool with five points after two wins and a draw, with Beziers now relegated to second with four points. The French side need to win next weekend's return match at Welford Road to stay in touch.
Irish referee Alan Lewis made an early impact on the match, sending Leicester winger Freddie Tuilagi to the sin-bin in the 16th minute for a high tackle on diminutive Beziers captain Pierre Mignoni. Seven minutes later, Lewis sent home prop Tariel Ratianadze to join Tuilagi for foul play.
On Saturday, Jason Forster's only try of the game helped Newport to a 16-12 home win over London Irish.
