Neither Gloucester coach Dean Ryan nor Harlequins counterpart Dean Richards were satisfied after the 34-25 victory for the home side at Kingsholm.

And it was no consolation that both sides registered a bonus point for scoring four tries apiece.

Guinness Premiership title-chasers Gloucester stormed into a 24-8 lead at half-time through tries by Nick Wood, James Bailey and James Forrester, all converted by Willie Walker, who also kicked a penalty.

But after tearing through Harlequins they sat back for long spells and were punished for it by their tenacious visitors.

``It was a scrappy game and we had plenty of opportunities to get a comfortable scoreline,'' said Gloucester head coach Ryan.

``We got dragged into a mess and it's left us with a taste of disappointment when we should have enjoyed it.

``We have come through the international period winning all but one of our games (at Saracens) and we can't not be happy with that.

``But that game was fairly snatch and grab rugby and that's not what we're about.''

Simon Keogh's try and Adrian Jarvis' penalty were Quins' only profit from a first half in which they were overwhelmed, but they launched themselves back into the match when Tom Williams touched down two minutes into the second half.

Mark Foster completed a stylish try that steered the game away from the visitors and maintained Gloucester's unbeaten home record in the league.

But Quins, inspired by the return from injury of All Black Andrew Mehrtens as a replacement fly-half, snatched a point with late touchdowns by Tani Fuga and Mike Brown that rounded off their 34-25 defeat.

``We threw it away in the first half,'' said Quins head coach Richards. ``We didn't respect their ability in certain quarters.

``To come out and play the way we did in the second half shows we've got a side that is prepared to dog it out, even when the game was lost and that's important.

``We need to win all our games if we're going to finish in the top six, but I'd rather look at the way we play the game and today, our play was very indifferent.

``We didn't adapt to the hard ground particularly well, and we need to show more composure and our defence has to improve.''