ON the day their place in next season's Guinness Premiership was finally rubber-stamped, Worcester Warriors gave a real statement of intent for the future, playing their part in a thrilling encounter with title-chasers Bath.

Although the men from The Rec claimed a 23-20 win, Warriors more than matched them for large parts of the game and could - arguably should - have snatched the points late on when they put the Bath line under intense pressure with more than a dozen probing phases only for the visitors to somehow snaffle the ball back at a ruck and clear to touch for the final whistle.

With Leeds, who needed bonus-point victories from their remaining games and Warriors not to pick up any further points in order to avoid the drop, going down 39-16 against Gloucester at Kingsholm, it meant that Worcester were mathematically safe but, on this evidence, Mike Ruddock will be looking towards the top half of the table rather than the bottom next term.

Both sides crossed over for three tries in the end-to-end clash, but it was the boot of England man Olly Barkley that made the difference, as he kicked eight points compared to the five that Warriors fly-half Shane Drahm managed.

Find-of-the-season Miles Benjamin took his tally for the campaign to 12 with two top-drawer finishes and Drahm was also on the scoresheet, but it was Bath outside-centre Tom Cheeseman who stole the headlines with a hat-trick of tries.

Warriors looked to make early in-roads into the Bath defence, but a Thinus Delport break was called back because of a marginal forward pass by Drahm.

South African full-back Delport was soon in the thick of the action again, making a try-saving tackle to deny giant wing Matt Banahan the opening score.

Lee Mears then looked to have scored when he steam-rollered over Drahm, but Kiwi centre Sam Tuitupou did brilliantly to hold the ball up over the line. However, from the five-metre scrum, Bath worked the ball down the line to Cheeseman, who strolled over in the corner for his first score.

Warriors replied with a well-struck Drahm penalty after England prop Matt Stevens was hit for not binding properly, but the hosts then lost captain Pat Sanderson to a blood injury in the 17th minute and he was replaced by Tom Wood. Although the skipper did return to the field, a dead leg forced him off for good before the break and Wood again came on.

From a scrum five yards out from their own line, wing Marcel Garvey made an electric break down the blindside before finding Rico Gear, who crashed through a tackle on half-way. The Kiwi centre then flighted a delightful pass out to Benjamin who hit the afterburners and scored a fantastic length-of-the-pitch try in the corner.

The lead was short-lived, though, as Cheeseman cropped up on the overlap to dive over in the corner, but Barkley could not add the extras. The end-to-end nature of the game continued with Worcester claiming the kick-off and Bath being penalised for not rolling away. Drahm had the chance to regain the lead after opting to go for the posts but his effort fell short Barkley made a midfield burst before kicking ahead and putting Garvey under pressure. The wing fumbled, but Delport was on hand to find touch with a well-struck kick.

However, from the line-out, Bath went long and drove for the Worcester line. The visitors' dominance was rewarded with a penalty after veteran prop Tony Windo was guilty of coming in at the side, which was successfully despatached by Barkley.

As the clock ticked down to half-time, Warriors were awarded a penalty when Bath infringed at a scrum on half-way, but Drahm pulled his attempt just wide of the target.

Bath opened the second-half with a penalty from the half-way line by Barkley after Worcester were guilty of straying off-side. The hosts refused to give in, though, and brought the score back to 16-13 when Benjamin grabbed his second score of the afternoon.

The speedster showed great strength to hold off two would-be tacklers before bullocking his way over the line. Again, Drahm failed to find the target with the conversion.

Drahm's clearance inside his 22 was charged down, but the Aussie gathered and booted to safety. From the line-out, Bath claimed possession and attacked, before trying to isolate Garvey against Banahan with a cross-kick. The Warriors man competed well, though, and forced a knock-on.

Former Worcester player Andrew Higgins knocked-on as Bath looked to run the ball at the hosts. From the scrum, Warriors thought they'd won a penalty as Drahm was blocked attempting to field his own chip over the Bath defence. Referee Andrew Small put his whistle to his lips but played a fine advantage as the ball bounced away from the visiting defenders, allowing Drahm to scamper through before converting his own score.

Bath weren't finished yet and Cheeseman burst through Delport's tackle to slide over in the corner for his hat-trick score. Barkley slotted the touchline conversion.

Warriors looked to reply with another burst down the flank by Benjamin but, when the ball was recycled, Tuitupou knocked-on. The Kiwi then made the same mistake to undermine Worcester's next attack.

Warriors made a determined late bid to steal the points, but the Bath defence just about managed to hold firm.

6:54pm Sunday 20th April 2008

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