ANDY Keast was delighted with the character on show at the Memorial Stadium as Worcester overcame adversity to clinch a vital four points.

The Sixways coach was perplexed by referee Tim Beddow's performance in their 10-3 win at Bristol as he penalised the visitors for their biggest penalty count of the season while the desperate weather conditions made victory even sweeter.

"We never felt we were in danger of losing the match and that speaks volumes for the players in those conditions," said Keast.

"We're delighted with the win and we said at half time that the bonus point was out of the question under such circumstances. They were similar weather conditions to the ones we had at Sixways two years ago against London Welsh.

"In such conditions you have to give the players some slack because the handling errors are going to happen. It's inevitable.

"In the end, however, we controlled the game despite the referee and the conditions and we've come away with the four points. We've won a very, very tough rugby match."

Keast, though, was far from complimentary about Beddow's performance as he blew up time after time.

"We're not happy with the refereeing," said Keast. "We will go back to Worcester and look at the video just to make sure we're not doing anything wrong. I don't think we are but he decided to referee it differently. That's his prerogative.

"The one thing we pride ourselves about is our discipline and penalty count. I'm not going to point the finger at the players for the penalty count. I've got enough experience to know that we won't have to remedy much on the discipline front."

After the form of Worcester's pack in recent weeks, the Warriors somewhat unexpectedly opened up with an expansive game-plan under Keast's instruction.

"We tried to play some rugby in the first half which is credit to us," he said. "We wanted to play a bit especially down the blindside because we knew their frailties. We did it three times but we never got a penalty despite them being miles offside so we obviously had to change tactics in the second half.

"In that period we played a territory game and we had many, many opportunities but ultimately we were always penalised. I wasn't happy with it but we go back to Worcester with the points and that's all that matters."