WORCESTER Wolves' coach Mick Donovan was disappointed with his side's display despite a 93-83 win over Tamar Valley which kept them joint top of National Three.

Donovan had expected Worcester to sweep aside the lowly-placed side from Plymouth but a determined performance from the visitors frustrated the home crowd as well as the coach.

He said: "The crowd were great, we were not. Defensively many players neglected their duties. The players left the court as if we had lost, we have a lot of work to do."

Worcester started with Mark Brennan and Lee Clarke alongside Rick Solvason, Colin Chiverton and Nick Vinsonneau while Ben Livingston started from the bench.

The lively Tony Forde was missing with flu but it was Brennan who made an encouraging start with Chiverston, dominating the rebounds at both ends of the court.

The visitors, however, played with nothing to lose and went into the second quarter level with the Wolves, 20-20.

The second period saw far more entertaining basketball from the visitors who continued to hurt the Wolves' slow and lethargic defence with an energetic display.

In reply Solvason kept finding gaps in the Plymouth defence, supported in attack by Chiverton and Livingston.

Frenchman Nick Vinsonneau once again was in trouble with the referee and while on three fouls, was taken off for a rest.

The noisy Wolves crowd were somewhat subdued at half-time after seeing Worcester hang on at 42-42 with Tamar Valley dominating the game. During half time, the Worcester side stayed in the changing room for the full 15 minutes. The main problem facing the Wolves was stopping the outstanding long range shooting from the Plymouth team.

Worcester responded well after the interval and in the first four minutes scored 12 points to Tamar's three.

However, Tamar Valley again shot well from distance and at the end of the third quarter the teams were still locked together at 67-67.

In the final quarter Tamar Valley looked far more comfortable and continued to shoot from all areas of the court. The Wolves were hanging on and inspired by the passionate crowd, they began to create more chances.

Led by player-coach Solvason, who shot from long-range and then drove well inside the zone, the Wolves went into the final two minutes with a one-point lead. Then Livingston was fouled on a drive and duly converted his foul shots as Worcester began to ease through the final minutes.

The final word came from the American Solvason who scored in the final seconds, giving the Worcester side welcome relief while bagging a personal points tally of 40.

Scorers: Solvason 40 points, Chiverton 28, Livingston 14, Vinsonneau 5, Clarke 4.