Bedford 14 Worcester 32

WORCESTER side-stepped a potential banana skin of a game to leave Bedford sliding towards the relegation zone on Saturday with a comfortable 32-14 victory.

In a match which was always going to be tough with Bedford old boys Alistair Murdoch, Dan Zaltzman and Adrian Skeggs returning to Goldington Road for the first time, the Sixways side eased past a team who are now contemplating a second successive relegation.

The National One leaders were never in trouble against a poor Bedford side who have now lost seven league games in succession and are just one point from the drop-zone.

The home side, buoyed by some fantastic vocal support, began brightly and pushed their illustrious counterparts back early on.

However, it was Worcester who took the lead with one of the tries of the season on five minutes as Spencer Bromley powered his way over on the left.

The winger, in at the last minute because of an injury to Scott Barrow, outpaced the Bedford defence and left full-back James Shanahan for dead with a neat shimmy. Sateki Tuipulotu converted to give Worcester a 7-0 comfort zone.

That zone was broken soon after though as Shanahan's chip exposed Worcester and Jon Rudd sprinted through for an unconverted try. A Scott Stewart penalty on 16 minutes sent the Worcester nerves jangling as Bedford sniffed victory at 8-7.

Any hopes of a memorable win for the Blues were dashed a minute later though, when Bromley again carved up their defence with a chip and a run for his second unconverted try. The former Harlequins star got a bit of luck with the touch down after his kick re-bounded off a Bedford man and dropped straight into his arms before he ran through with a real turn of pace. Indeed, Bromley's presence on the wing gave Worcester an option they had been lacking in some games this season - an old fashioned winger with the pace and the guile to stretch and outwit defences.

Four minutes later, the game was over as a contest when Tony Yapp fed Tuipulotu and the Tongan raced through on the right for Worcester's third try. This time, he was on target with a fine conversion as the Gold'n'Blues stretched their lead to 19-8. Stewart's penalty double brought the teams within five points of one another but Worcester once again squeezed the accelerator pedal to grab their fourth try and bonus point before half-time. And it was Mathew Back who powered through on the left with a 50-metre surge to touch down amid scenes of on-pitch celebrations. Tuipulotu could not add to the score though as he sliced his conversion wide of the post.

Bedford began the second half as they had the first with a determined zest about them but went further behind on 63 minutes when Tuipulotu's penalty made it 27-14. Two minutes later, Bromley completed his hat-trick when he finished a fine move involving Rudi Keil and substitute Ian Calder. Tuipulotu once again missed the conversion but it was an irrelevance in an otherwise solid display. The only sour note for the visitors was a yellow card shown to Dave Fryday with six minutes left for persistent infringement.

Worcester: Back (Calder 47), Tuipulotu, Murdoch, Keil, Bromley, Yapp, Simpson-Daniel; Windo, Hall (Moretti 73), Lyman (Collins 68), Sims, Zaltzman (Denhardt 68), Evans, Carter, Fryday. Subs not used: Mather, Langkilde, Pellow.