Let’s be honest, the first half was pretty dire. Worcester seemed to have turned up with the view that ‘Nobody ever won a game if they scored nil’, and set out to achieve that with a strangling defence, a penchant for slowing the ball down and not a whole lot of attacking ambition. Our inability to hold on to the ball, combined with Andy Goode’s pinpoint kicking game, meant that we struggled to build sustained pressure, and we got to half time 6-9 down, with all the points from penalty kicks. Andy Goode, who seemed to have done his hamstring towards the end of the half, was substituted at half time, and I think that, in the end, gave us the edge.

We changed tack in the second half. Worcester were clearly quite comfortable with a methodical, structured game, so we upped the pace and kept the ball in hand rather more. That paid early dividends, and we got into the Worcester 22 three times in the first ten minutes, although we didn’t have the control to convert that pressure into a try. After our third visit, Nick Macleod evened the score with a penalty. We started to fade a bit as the game went into its final quarter after a couple of substitutions and Worcester had one penalty attempt which fell just short, before getting another, with 13 minutes to go, to retake the lead.

We then freshened up the back division, bringing on Cillian Willis for Dwayne Peel, and Will Addison for Johnny Leota. Worcester won possession at the restart and, after a kicking duel, Tom Brady, deep in his own 22, pirouetted round two oncoming Warriors and broke out to beyond half way. Will Addison took the ball on to the Worcester 22 and, as we built pressure, a scrambling Worcester defence conceded a penalty, which Nick Macleod kicked. We upped the pace again, and a tiring Worcester started to make errors, putting a touchfinder out on the full to give us a lineout on their 10 metre line. They were unable to relieve the pressure and a neat grubber trapped a Worcester defender who was bundled into touch. We won the possession and recycled the ball through several phases, pushing into the Worcester 22. Eventually, a defender infringed to give Nick Macleod a penalty chance, which he took, gratefully, and put us into the lead for the first time in over 50 minutes. The drama wasn’t over though. With three minutes to play, we secured the ball at the restart but why oh why did we kick it away rather than running the clock down with up-yer-jumper stuff? Worcester won a penalty deep in their half, put it into touch on our 22 and then played out phase after phase without making ground. Eventually, they went for the long range drop goal, but a couple of charging defenders got to the ball, it went loose and Tom Brady hoofed it into touch to win a tight game.

So what do I think? Most of it wasn’t pretty. We seemed to lack control and consequently struggled to overcome the suffocating Worcester defence. Whether it was cold hands, the pressure of a must-win game, or something else, I don’t know, but we did just enough to deserve the win, I think, if for nothing else than the tremendous discipline and defence in the last few minutes. I do wonder how important Andy Goode’s injury was- I can see him getting the penalty that fell just short, or nicking a drop goal at the death? I suppose we take our lucky breaks, bank the four points and carry on to next week’s Dimes vs Mallinder confrontation at Frankin's Gardens. Man of the Match- Gaskell is fine by me.

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