Saturday, February 28, 2004

IT was the neutral's dream and a coach's nightmare at Dry Leas.

This National One clash had more of a basketball feel to it as the teams shared 16 tries and over 100 points in a classic end-to-end encounter.

Worcester may, at times, have had the Harlem Globetrotters look to them but, if they continue to defend like this, they'll turn their coaches into basket cases.

In reality, the Warriors were never in danger of losing the match and, individually, all conceded tries carried extenuating circumstances with them. Talk of a defensive crisis is fanciful but it will, no doubt, be occupying the minds of John Brain and Andy Keast after seeing their side leak eight tries in their last two matches.

Hat-tricks for Gavin Pfister and Chris Garrard perfectly summed up Worcester's threat up front and out wide while the continued excellence of Craig Gillies and Drew Hickey in the lineout made it all the more incredible that Henley were able to score five tries.

Because of that, Worcester's dressing room was far from buoyant despite extending their lead at the top to 18 points and surely making their promotion a formality in the process. The league leaders have set themselves punishing standards this season and their angst at such a porous defence was utterly understandable at the final whistle. Five tries in broken play, however, came with the territory in a game where it was easy to get caught up in Henley's intoxicating approach to rugby -- throw it around and see where it takes you.

Hopefully -- for National One's sake -- it won't take them down because it was a joy to watch and a thoroughly refreshing tactic when facing the league leaders.

Worcester can once again satisfy themselves that their driving lineout is still working like clockwork -- Pfister's treble and a try from Tony Windo is testament to that -- while their ability to move through the gears when it mattered spoke volumes for their quality.

By half time, they had carved out a 31-14 lead thanks to three catch and drive moves from Pfister and Windo while Daren O'Leary and Wes Davies ran in tries which underlined Worcester's devastating threat in broken play. It wasn't all one way, however. After yellow carding Garrard for slowing down play, referee Nigel Higginson was called into action again on 17 minutes when he awarded the hosts a penalty try. Allen Chilten's chip wasn't dealt with conclusively by Worcester's back-line and, after Matt Powell's blatant push on Peter Davies as he rushed to ground the ball, Higginson had little option but to award the score. The Hawks added another try midway through the half but Adam Gates' touchdown was more to do with Pfister and Dan Zaltzman's collision -- which left them both out of the action -- than a wonderfully constructed move.

Garrard seemed to personify Worcester's performance in the opening 10 minutes of the second half -- thrilling in attack but feeling the pressure on the back foot. He was put in for his first, after another thrust from the ever improving Gary Trueman, before running in from central midfield for his second and best score.

David Officer was one of a number of second half replacements who made a difference in an attacking and defensive context. The centre bagged a try on the hour but Worcester seemed to lose some cohesion, particularly with Davies planted at full back. Kene Ejikeme was the first to expose the defence with an electric 80-metre burst for the try of the match before Ali James crossed for their bonus point and Rob Laird embarrassed their lofty opponents with the fifth of the day, five minutes before the end.

At 50-33, Keast may have been contemplating reading the riot act but his troops spared themselves with another three tries before the end. Pfister sealed his hat-trick before Ben Hinshelwood twice got free to set up scores for Christian Evans and finally Garrard. Tommy Hayes ended a thoroughly entertaining day with seven conversions but, you have to suspect, the art of scoring points may not be the topic of conversation at Sixways today.

Worcester: O'Leary 8; Garrard 8, Hinshelwood 6, Trueman 7, Davies 5; Hayes 7, Powell 6; Windo 7, Daly 8, Lyman 7, Zaltzman 7, Gillies 7, C Evans 8, PFISTER 9, Hickey 8.

Replacements: Cole 6 (Powell 48), Higgins 6 (O'Leary 48), Officer 6 (Trueman 43), Clunis, Fortey 5 (Windo 61), Gabey 6 (Zaltzman 61), M Evans 6 (Hickey 50).

Man of the match: Gavin Pfister - tackled anything that moved and capped performance with a hat-trick.