A last gasp penalty courtesy of the boot of Gloucester fullback Henry Paul was enough to clinch a 22-19 victory over Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.

The Gloucester star struck after Epi Taione had come off the bench to score an injury-time try which had seemingly earned the hosts a draw.

Newcastle lacked ideas, but four penalties from Jonny Wilkinson kept the hosts in touch after Junior Paramore had crossed for Gloucester in the first half.

Two Henry Paul penalties then gave the Cheery and Whites a seven-point lead before Taione stormed through and under the posts.

A game devoid of drama then had a nail-biting climax as Paul first missed a drop goal, skewing it left under pressure from Wilkinson, before landing the crucial penalty deep into injury time.

This was a fixture which had developed a fiery edge over the past year, following unsubstantiated allegations from Newcastle director of rugby Rob Andrew that flanker Epi Taione was racially abused by Olivier Azam and the Gloucester fans.

But, bar the odd skirmish, it appeared any remaining fireworks between the two clubs had been doused.

Taione was relegated to the bench, with Newcastle blaming his rising penalty count, allowing a start for his Tongan compatriot Soa Otuvaka.

Newcastle missed the one thing Taione does better than most - making line breaking runs and winning crucial yards at crucial times - until he was introduced in the second half.

Wilkinson, accurate as ever from the kicking tee, was missing touch, while attempts to play their way out of trouble floundered against a Gloucester defence quick up from the line and solid in the tackle.

Newcastle's rare forays into Gloucester's territory resulted in penalties for Wilkinson to convert, which he duly did, each time levelling after Ludovic Mercier had booted the Cherry and Whites ahead.

The key moment of the opening exchanges came with Newcastle once again under pressure inside their own 22.

Gloucester's England scrum-half Andy Gomarssal took a quick tap penalty, cut through into space and just as he looked to offload, Newcastle lock Hugh Vyvyan cut down the supporting James Forrester off the ball.

Vyvyan was sin-binned and the Newcastle pack, a man short, could not cope.

Three times the five-metre scrum was reset as Newcastle wheeled and crumbled under the strain, before Gloucester number eight Junior Paramore collected from the base and bundled over the line.

Wilkinson kicked all 24 points in the win against Northampton on the opening day and was again responsible for bringing his side back into the game, landing two further penalties to bring his side to within a point at the interval.

A wasted chance just before the interval, when Hall Charlton's pass to Joe Shaw was grounded, was almost punished immediately as Gloucester made their own break down the same wing, only Jamie Noon to execute a try-saving tackle on Thinus Delport.

His efforts, however, earned him a crashing late challenge from Patrice Collazo, who was sin-binned.

But while Newcastle folded when a man short, Gloucester had the luxury of field position and slowed the game down, once again allowing Newcastle time out of their own territory.

Mercier was replaced by James Simpson-Daniel, who went to centre, and Paul took over the kicking duties, and landed two more penalties as Gloucester took a 19-12 lead with 12 minutes remaining.

Newcastle, needing a converted try to earn a draw, upped the tempo, and after three wasted opportunities thought they had secured a draw when Taione crashed through the challenge of Trevor Woodman and scored.

But Newcastle failed to clear further danger and after Paul had missed his drop goal, slotted over his penalty for the win.