But then the home side lost back-row Robin Sowden-Taylor to the sin-bin for slowing down ball, Priestland kicking the resulting penalty for a 11-6 lead at half-time.
Worse was to follow when Botha was shown yellow for slowing down the ball in the tackle.
It was a poor attempt and duly punished when Smith touched down the ball as it dribbled towards the deadball line.
Nadal angrily threw down a ball and remonstrated with the umpire after Hawkeye overruled the line judge's decision in the first-set breaker.
Andre Santos chested down a ball and his half-volley was saved, while Kaka cut inside and curled an 18-yard shot just wide.
Connacht chased a winning try and when the last move of the game broke down the ball fell to Bearman to sprint in.
On one side of the net was the terrier-like Mr Chang, an old-school defensive player whose Herculean legs help him run down every ball.
"We need to step up, make the big hits, slow down their ball and start poaching, " said Delve, 25, whose side lost 43-17 in Bloemfontein last week.
Birmingham responded with Mikael Forssell chesting down a ball, swivelling and shooting only for his low shot to be saved a full stretch by keeper David James.
He nearly scored a second moments later after Eden Hazard chased down the ball by the byline and fired a cross in toward Ba, but Pantilimon was able to block the effort.
Dhoni made no mistake as Alastair Cook edged to his left in the next, but Bell was put down first ball when Ganguly could only parry above his head at second slip.
Van der Vaart showed his elegant technique as he chested down a ball, swivelled and sent in a shot which was saved before he had the chance to put Spurs ahead from the spot.
Things went from bad to worse for Huddersfield on 62 minutes when Thorman's languid clearance kick on the fifth tackle was charged down by Jamel Fakir, who chased down the ball to score in the corner.
Gloucester carried that momentum into the second half and after Ben White was sin-binned for slowing down the ball, they moved the ball right after a quick-tap penalty for Simpson-Daniel to score and Robinson converted from the touchline.
The visitors could have been more than 2-0 up by the interval - Carson patting the ball down after a shot from Luka Modric only for the ball to luckily skid away, forcing Kranjcar too wide to shoot.
In scientific terms, it was akin to rolling a steel ball down an inclined plane to measure its velocity only to watch the ball float into the air instead.
Even though he plays on the left for Villa, he is really good at shaping to take the ball down the wing and then checking back on his right foot to deliver a good ball into the box.
Both sets of players tried to get the ball down and pass it under difficult conditions.
Biarritz flanker Thierry Dusautoir was sin-binned five minutes before the break for deliberately slowing the ball down.
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The main thing is I've got to get back to locating and getting the ball down in the zone.
But the latest entry into the wildly popular franchise does more than just move the ball down the field.
An ANA soldier kicked it like a small soccer ball down the road a gesture of disgust at this suicide attack.
When we had the ball we struggled to get any tempo as they managed to slow our ball down consistently.
"The onus was on us to get the ball down and we did not do that, " the Everton manager added.
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They confidently played the ball down the channels and through the middle, while the visitors appeared uneasy and frustrated at times.
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Riordan's fourth-minute free-kick tested Zaluska in the Celtic goal when Ian Murray nodded down a searching ball into the danger area.
The Scotland central defence of Alex Pearce and Jamie Duff was gaping when Adam Chapman launched a long ball down the middle.
Similarly, if Brady crunches up, or tucks down over a ball, his core will keep him together while his legs keep going.
From 253 yards, he used a four iron to chase the ball down the length of the green and into the hole.
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Saints came close when Ross headed a long ball down to Mehmet, who turned Weir before sending a tame shot into Alexander's arms.
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