Leeds Carnegie have been relegated from the Guinness Premiership after just one season back in the top flight but they produced a spirited display at Kingsholm before going down 39-16.
The game was a microcosm of the season as a whole, for large parts Leeds battled hard and show real spirit on defence but Gloucester had a cutting edge that saw Akapusi Qera score a hat trick to seal the win for the league leaders.
Leeds Carnegie arrived at Kingsholm knowing that nothing short of victory would keep their survival hopes alive. Stuart Lancaster handed a Guinness Premiership debut to Leeds Met student Scott Armstrong and the England Student international faced a baptism of fire up against Lesley Vainikolo.
Leeds held their own in the early exchanges when referee Martin Fox, resplendent in his pink kit, was the pivotal person on the pitch awarded a succession of free kicks and penalties early on.
In the damp conditions, Gloucester were happy to play the percentages as they looked to take control of the kicking game. Willie Walker and Ryan Lamb both used grubber kicks to good effect to take full advantage of the light drizzle that began to fall at kick off.
The visitors defended manfully but eventually the pressure told and flanker Akapusi Qera, who had played against Leeds last season with Pertemps Bees, powered his way through two tackles to score next to the post. Lamb added the conversion to make it 7-0.
Leeds hit straight back from that set back and got off the mark with a penalty from Alberto Di Bernardo from nearly 40 metres out just two minutes later to make it 7-3.
Di Bernardo then cut the lead to just one point when Leeds were awarded a penalty for pulling down at the line out after 20 minutes. The Argentine was kicking into a breeze but put his attempt between the posts.
That seemed to wake Gloucester into life and they produced another flowing move to go upfield was eventually only stopped by a deliberate offside and Ryan Lamb slotted over the subsequent penalty to make it 10-6 after 23 minutes.
Undaunted Leeds came back again and enjoy a good spell of pressure with Stuart Hooper and Pablo Bouza taking the fight to the home side. And they got their reward when Di Bernardo coolly kicked a drop goal from 25 metres out to make it 10-9 after 26 minutes.
However, Gloucester then struck a crucial blow when hooker Oliver Azam capitilised on a driving run by Qera to score next to the posts despite the protestations by Leigh Hinton that he had not got the ball down. Lamb added the conversion to make it 17-9 after 28 minutes.
Five minutes later both teams were reduced to 14 men when a fight broke out on the Leeds 22 following a wayward line out for the home side. Stuart Hooper and Will James were both singled out referee Fox and promptly dispatched to the sin bin after 33 minutes.
Gloucester had a couple of chances just before half time to extend their lead but due to a combination of some poor finishing and stout defence by Leeds kept them out and kept it to 19-7 at the break.
The second half continued in a similar manner. Gloucester enjoying the lions share of possession but unable to do anything with it. Too often they were content with kicking down field to put Leeds under pressure rather than using the talents in their backline. They then lost Vainikolo, who had scored five tries in the corresponding fixture at Headingley Carnegie, after 47 minutes.
However, if Leeds thought that might give them some respite they were soon undone. Lamb extended the lead with a penalty after 50 minutes then just as Leeds were reshuffling from the arrival of three replacements, Lamb intercepted a loose pass to run 40 metres untouched to score. He bizarrely missed the straight forward conversion attempt to leave it 25-9 after 51 minutes.
The job looked a lot harder for Leeds after 59 minutes when Vili Ma'asi was sin binned for tackling the man without the ball. Gloucester sensed a chance to hammer home their advantage and they did within a minute as Qera was driven over the line by his pack to score his side's crucial fourth try. Lamb added the touchline conversion to make it 32-9 to the home side.
Qera completed his hat trick with ten minutes remaining when he spotted a gap at the side of a ruck and went straight through to score between the posts. Lamb added the conversion to make it 39-9.
Leeds did not give in though and with just 90 seconds left on the clock they scored a consolation try through Darren Edwards. Gloucester were penalised five times for offside on their line eventually leading to Marco Bortolami being sin binned and soon afterwards Edwards squeezed his way over. Brooks added the conversion to make the final score 39-16 but it was not enough to prolong Leeds Carnegie's stay in the Guinness Premiership.

Gloucester Rugby: Walker, Balshaw, Simpson-Daniel, Tindall, Vainikolo, Lamb, Cooper, Dickinson, Azam, Nieto, James, Bortolami, Strokosch, Qera, Delve
Replacements: Titterrell, Forster for Nieto (62), Brown, Buxton for Strokosch (59), Lawson, Paterson for Vainikolo (47), Morgan
Leeds Carnegie: Hinton, Armstrong, Vickerman, Burrell, Holtby Di Bernardo, Bedford, MacDonald, Parkes, Pala'amo, Bouza, Hooper, Oakley, Clark, Lock
Replacements: Hopcroft for Pala'amo (62), Ma'asi for Parkes (50), Lund for Bouza (62), Myall for Clark (50), Edwards for Bedford (67), Brooks for Di Bernardo (67), Goodridge for Hinton (50)
Referee; Martin Fox
Attedance: 11,753