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Warriors nick the points at Bristol
Guinness Premiership, Memorial Ground, Friday January 27, KO 19.45PM
Worcester Warriors leapfrogged London Irish into fifth place in the Guinness Premiership after they beat Bristol 26-23 at the Memorial Ground.
The game swayed one way and then the other as it balanced on a knife-edge for the majority of the night, before the boot of Shane Drahm finally proved to be the difference.
Tries from Lee Robinson and Jason Strange had kept Bristol right in the game as they cancelled out efforts from Aisea Havili and Drew Hickey, but the Warriors just edged matters as their experience came through towards the end.
Bristol suffered the worst possible start to the contest, as the combative Brian Lima felt the effects of his own determination inside the opening 40 seconds. Challenging Nicolas Le Roux under the high ball, Lima appeared to receive an unintentional elbow to his shoulder, cutting his game short as Mark Denney came on in the Samoan's place.
The blow did not hinder the home side's momentum however, and they took the game to Worcester from the first whistle.
Led by Strange, who took the opportunity to pin the Warriors right back on their own five-yard line, Bristol looked to run the ball at the heart of the opposition defence, and they were close to an early breakthrough as Robinson and Strange both made half-breaks close to the line.
Moments later, the Bristol wing certainly did make the break as he hit the perfect line to give his side a converted 7-0 lead. Taking a fine pass from Shaun Perry, Robinson used Bernardo Stortoni's decoy to power over from 35 yards.
The score seemed to sting the Warriors into life, and they quickly cut the deficit to four as Drahm showed his England A credentials with typical accuracy.
However, Bristol were still in the ascendancy in a lively first half, and they almost restored their seven-point advantage after a 60-yard break from Perry. The Bristol scrum half has been one of the outstanding talents in the Premiership this season, and he made a trademark break from inside his own 22, before Strange missed the resulting penalty.
Very much in the mould of the two sides' earlier meeting at Sixways, a battle between the two fly halves was developing once again, with Strange struggling from distance whilst Drahm displayed his usual power to draw Worcester within a point of their opposition.
Bristol continued to throw the ball around as they looked to find weakness in the Worcester defence out wide, but the visitors were beginning to stamp their own efficient game on proceedings.
Craig Gillies was settling into his usual domineering role at the line-out, and through the lock's supply line Havili emulated Robinson's scintillating try, bursting over from midway inside the Bristol half to give his side a 13-7 advantage.
The good work of Worcester's forwards was being well supported by their clever half back combination, and Andy Gomarsall began to emerge as a key figure in winning his troops good territory with his chips in behind.
The half time break brought an end to an entertaining first 40 minutes, but not before Strange had reduced the arrears to 13-10 after Mark Regan threw away a certain try when he spilled the ball just a yard short of the line.
After the injury to Lima at the start of the first half, it was Worcester's time to suffer at the start of the second, as Pat Sanderson failed to emerge from the interval due to a blood injury.
The enthralling rugby kept coming though, and Bristol persisted with their open gameplan as they sprayed the ball wide to David Lemi and Robinson in search of a second score.
A Strange penalty restored parity 10 minutes into the second period, but the scores were soon favouring the visitors once more as Hickey benefited from turnover ball to make it 20-13 to the Warriors.
Bristol's adventurous tactics isolated Lemi on the left wing, and John Brain's men capitalised with decisive potency to allow the Australian back row to cost over down the right flank.
The score appeared to dampen the home crowd's spirits on a wet West Country night, but they were soon back in full voice as Strange hauled his men back into the contest after charging down Drahm's clearance. The Bristol stand off then converted his own score to level at 20 points apiece on the hour mark.
Worcester were looking the marginally superior outfit in most areas of the game, but fortune often favours the brave, and Bristol finally profited as the ball went wide to Lemi once more. Receiving the ball 25 yards out, the pacey winger chipped ahead with the line in the sight, before he was callously taken out by Dale Rasmussen who saw yellow for his troubles.
Strange kicked the resulting opportunity as the hosts appeared to take a decisive stranglehold, only for Drahm to level within minutes from a soft penalty of his own.
The points were there for the taking for either side as the game entered an intriguing finale, and after Drahm nudged the Warriors ahead once again, Bristol rallied to create a penalty chance for substitute Tommy Hayes, who could not find the distance as the visitors took the points.
