TRIUMPHANT Worcester coach Adrian Skeggs was in buoyant mood after watching his side lay another bogey with a 29-22 victory over Exeter Chiefs.

The National One leaders, who have never won at the County Ground, left the home side in even deeper relegation mire after a stirring display on a diabolical pitch.

The playing surface, which featured pools of water and lumps of mud before kick-off, survived a late inspection by officials under pressure to get the game on because of Exeter's fixture backlog.

However, the Gold'n'Blues -- roared on by some superb vocal support -- showed they are not going to lie down in the race for the title with a gutsy performance.

Skeggs was happy that his players had come away with a five-point haul after Sateki Tuipulotu's 71st minute try added the fourth try to maintain their five-point lead at the top.

He said: "I am absolutely delighted just to come here and win, but to get four tries was fantastic. We showed a lot of character because we really had to dig deep to get that bonus point."

With second-placed Leeds Tykes keeping up the pressure on Worcester with a 45-17 win at Waterloo, it was vital Skeggs' side did not drop any points.

But their cause was not aided by an inconsistent display from referee Tim Miller. And Skeggs was not in the mood to give him any compliments after the final whistle.

"The guy was way out of his league but we knew what we were in store for when we heard it was him earlier in the week. We've gone from a top-class referee in Ed Morrison last week to him and it's very frustrating."

Despite the win, the former Australian international revealed that his team received a half-time rocket from chief executive Geoff Cooke because of a lack-lustre end to the first-half.

"Geoff gave them a rocket because we weren't playing the game-plan. We were killing these guys but just did not play field position at all. In this weather, we have to play to a game-plan and we cannot afford to have players just doing their own thing."

Skeggs though was relieved to get out of the ground with the five points after seeing the state of the pitch before kick-off.

"We weren't allowed to play the game we wanted to because of the conditions but the good thing is, we got the points and we go back to a good pitch at Sixways against Waterloo on Sunday. We had to deal with the conditions and in the end we did but it was not ideal."