Saturday, December 14, 2002

WORCESTER moved to within three points of title rivals Rotherham after a dogged display at the home of the Bees.

With the Millmoor club failing to take five points against Orrell, the Warriors cut the gap with a performance which simply oozed character.

The victory completed their rehabilitation post Rotherham and set them up nicely for the second half of the season as the promotion race began to take shape.

Sixways has been a reflective place in recent weeks following the side's 38-13 defeat at Millmoor but if Worcester supporters wanted any evidence that the squad had laid those demons to rest, this was it.

It wasn't the greatest technical performance you are likely to see but some of the steel on show was top drawer as they did what Rotherham had failed to do at Sharmans Cross Road and bagged the bonus point.

Misfiring

With 20 minutes gone of this encounter, the result could have gone either way as, despite a lightning Worcester start with a first minute Tony Windo try, Birmingham & Solihull were dominating proceedings.

The visitors' lineout was misfiring and Tim Walsh -- Worcester's star fly half over recent weeks -- was having an off day as the Bees dictated possession. Birmingham & Solihull were ahead thanks to a Gavin Cattle try and Luke Smith's conversion and penalty. And while Worcester looked to have the cutting edge in attack, they were never given the opportunity as the Bees swarmed forward.

Cattle was orchestrating play as he kicked at every opportunity, hoping to catch out the covering Nnamdi Ezulike and Duncan Roke and had Smith had his shooting boots on, the home side could have been 11 points ahead midway through the half.

That was until Roke and then Ezulike tore past two players on the right to set up a whirlwind break and the second Worcester try of the day for the supporting Richard Bates. It was a pivotal moment for the Warriors and they never looked back.

Werner Swanepoel's burst through the midfield would have put Worcester back in front soon after if there had been the support but it wasn't long before the score came.

After a number of good positions, which they failed to capitalise on because of their lineout laments, Martin Morgan finally won ball and the pack drove on impressively. Mark Gabey was driven over for the third try, three minutes before the break, and it was a nice moment for the much maligned pack with some points to prove to the rest of the league. Walsh added his first conversion of the day and, on the stroke of half time as Hesse Fakatou picked up a yellow card for back-chat, the Australian stroked over a penalty to make it 20-10.

It was quite a turnaround. Worcester had turned the match on its head as quickly as the light drained out of the Solihull sky. With the floodlights belatedly on during the second half before they suddenly cut out, Worcester set about turning the lights out on their hosts.

Despite a Dave Knight try, 12 minutes into the half, Worcester were beginning to get on top. The catalyst, however, came from John Brain and Andy Keast's substitution as Jim Jenner and Craig Chalmers were brought into the fray. Jenner made an immediate impact, smashing holes into the B&S defence. And after Swanepoel's pass, the former Newcastle man was on hand to crash through for the fourth try of the day - all four from the forwards. Walsh added the extra points and Worcester were in command.

Five minutes later and it was all over following the sin-binning of Ed Orgee. Roke and Chris Garrard created the space and the Australian winger dived in on the left for a well-worked score as the celebrations began.

There was still time for Ezulike to bag his deserved try following a powerful thrust from Ben Hinshelwood on full time. It was the icing on the cake for Worcester who had proved to everyone that they have the character to last the pace in this race.

The old adage of sprints and marathons comes to mind and Worcester's engine, on this evidence, seems to be ticking over nicely.

Worcester: Roke 8, Ezulike 8, Hinshelwood 7, Ogilvie-Bull 5, Garrard 8, Walsh 5, Swanepoel 6; Windo 8, Hall 6, Olver 7, Zaltzman 6, Morgan 7, NBATES 9, Nias 6, Gabey 8.

Replacements: O'Reilly, Chalmers 7 (Ogilvie-Bull 60), Southwell, Pearl, Pfister, Jenner 7 (Zaltzman 60), Lyman.

Man of the match: Richard Bates -- feisty display from the big man.