11:28am Tuesday 13th January 2009
QUICK-thinking from Ben Jones created a clever opportunist try, but it was still a night of frustration as Worcester Warriors lost 29-5 to Wasps in the Guinness 'A' League at Sixways.
Replacement scrum-half Jones grabbed a second-half score to push his first team call-up claims with a quick tap-penalty.
But Warriors were again on the wrong side of a result against Wasps as forward power from the visitors saw them take a 14-0 half-time lead.
Three second-half tries followed as Warriors struggled to breakdown a well-drilled Wasps team in front of another impressive Monday night home crowd.
Warriors named a team full of players eager to impress and stake a first team recall and were skippered for the night by James Collins.
The home side played with plenty of intent in the opening stages but a succession of penalties and a fearsome counter attack at the breakdown from the visitors saw them struggle to build up a head of steam.
Collins showed his class with a superb turnover to hand back possession to the hosts just when Wasps threatened an opening scoring after some driving play from their forwards.
Seconds later, an intelligent chip over the top from the Wasps fly-half forced Charlie Fellows to sprint back and touch down for a five-metre scrum.
Wasps were suddenly camped on the Worcester line and a succession of shunts forward saw back row Will Matthews crash over for the opening try and Jeremy Staunton add the extras for a 7-0 lead.
The visitors continued to look the more menacing at the line-out and Tom Wheatcroft was called into action to clear danger after a booming clearance from Staunton as Wasps pressed.
A penalty for diving over the top of a ruck saw Staunton kick to the corner to set up more forward pressure. Only some resolute Worcester defence held the visitors out until a knock-on relieved the tension.
Worcester lost Rob Wood to the sin-bin after an infringement at the breakdown but Worcester were still showing plenty of spirit as they bundled Wasps into touch before Joey Carlisle’s long punt put Warriors into an attacking spot.
The fly-half tried another neat kick over the top to try and set Alex Grove free but the move was read by the Wasps full-back who collected and hacked clear.
Carlisle’s kicking game was proving a useful asset as he turned Wasps and helped Worcester enjoy a spell of territorial advantage.
Wasps were next to lose a player to the sin-bin and Carlisle opted to kick for the corner rather than the posts.
A stray line-out lost momentum and although Michael Penn countered the chance was lost after ball wide right went down.
A bizarre sliced kick from Wasps set up another attack with Collins but when the ball was lost Wasps hit back and Grove was sin binned – just as Wood returned – for killing the attack before prop Charlie Beech dived over from close range and Staunton converted for a 14-0 half-time lead.
Warriors started the second-half with a flurry and pushed Wasps into their own half. It wasn’t long before Wasps took advantage of the open spaces created by the Warriors to smash the ball over the try line.
Wasps seemed to pick up the momentum and gain extra confidence from their clear lead as Warriors made a succession of changes.
A pressured kick caused Penn to slip and loose the ball which allowed Wasps to pick up and Demo Demo gave the Wasps a 24-0 lead.
Warriors finally got on the scoresheet with a quick tap-penalty from Jones seeing the young scrum-half dive and touchdown.
But Wasps came back a few minutes later and scored yet another try from Damien Farley.
Neat hands from Worcester nearly created a second try when Grove made a dash towards the try line only to be called back for a forward pass.
Warriors: 01 Callum Black, 02 Jordan Page (Lawrence 58), 03 Darren Morris, 04 David Lyons, 05 Graham Kitchener, 06 Rob Wood (Freeman 52), 07 James Collins, 08 Matt Cox (Abbott 46), 09 Jonny Arr (Jones 55), 10 Joe Carlisle, 11 Charlie Fellows, 12 Alex Grove, 13 Ollie Grove (Short 54), 14 Michael Penn, 15 Tom Wheatcroft
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