IT’S hard to imagine any other team that could score five tries in a comprehensive victory which maintains their 20-point lead at the top of the table, yet still send their fans away from the match less-than-impressed.

However, that’s exactly what Worcester Warriors did in this Jekyll and Hyde Championship victory over third-placed London Welsh at Sixways.

Richard Hill’s men had the maximum five points in the bag by half-time as tries from Kai Horstmann, Andy Goode, Marcel Garvey and Miles Benjamin saw them head for the dressing rooms with a commanding 32-3 lead after as one-sided a half as you’ll ever see.

And when Benjamin scooted over for his second of the afternoon on 56 minutes, the Sixways faithful must have been wondering how many more tries would follow.

The smiles soon turned to jeers, though, as Phil Greening’s visitors ran in four tries in the last 20 minutes to take an unlikely bonus point from the encounter.

Replacement centre James Lewis started the comeback with a 59th minute try, then added a second soon after, before wingers Liam Gibson and Josh Drauniniu both crossed to ensure Welsh did not return to Old Deer Park empty-handed.

Although that point makes little or no difference in the grand scheme of things to Worcester, the manner in which it was earnt will be troubling for head coach Hill.

The Warriors boss can rightly claim his side were by far the best side for the majority of the contest and they were never in danger of losing, but a complete 80-minute performance still proves elusive.

From the kick-off, Worcester piled the pressure on their visitors and won a second-minute penalty for off-side, which fly-half Goode slotted from in front of the posts.

Four minutes later, Warriors openside Pat Sanderson strayed off-side and former Scotland international stand-off Gordon Ross levelled the scores. That was as good as it got for the away side in the first-half, though, and the following 34 minutes were one-way traffic.

Sanderson nearly atoned for the penalty he conceded, but just couldn’t quite get on the end of Goode’s cross-field kick with the try line beckoning, but the home fans didn’t have to wait long for the first score.

On 12 minutes, Goode was at the heart of the action again as his cute chip over the Dragons’ defensive line was neatly gathered by outside-centre Alex Grove, who was making his first league start of the season since returning from his loan spell with Edinburgh.

The Scotland international found the on-rushing Benjamin, who was hauled down just short of the line, but skipper Horstmann was on hand to complete the formalities. Goode added the extras before extending his side’s lead to 13-3 with a penalty.

Benjamin’s speed again caused problems for the Welsh defence as he linked with the supporting Graham Kitchener, who in turn found Sanderson on his shoulder, but the former captain was held up and possession was lost.

Soon after, Warriors were camped under the capital outfit’s posts again and, as prop Bruce Douglas looked to get the ball away from the breakdown, he was illegally impeded. With referee Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts playing a penalty-advantage, visiting blindisde Epi Taione got involved in the next ruck and was sent to the sin bin for his troubles.

Horstmann called for a scrum from the penalty and the ball was worked down the short side to Garvey, who had no problems in recording his 14th score of a prolific campaign.

On the stroke of half-time, the Welsh line was up too quickly to hand Warriors a penalty, the quick tap was taken and Benjamin darted over to secure the bonus-point try and bring the curtain down on an impressive 40 minutes from the hosts.

Horstmann was unable to continue after the break after sustaining rib cartilage damage in the first period and was replaced by Adam Balding, while a furious Greening made three changes.

Benjamin joined Garvey on 14 tries for the season when he completed his brace on 56 minutes and it was another well-constructed try, albeit from unusual sources. Veteran lock Craig Gillies caught Welsh by surprise with a break around the fringes before finding fellow Sixways stalwart Dale Rasmussen.

The Samoan centre, more usually at home smashing into opposition defenders, opted to display a fleet turn of foot and burst down the right flank at pace. Although he was halted before the line, he had the presence of mind to off-load for Benjamin to score.

Replacement Joe Carlisle added the extras, but a downpour was about to be unleashed on the Warriors parade.

Clearly with a flea in the ear from their coaching staff at half-time, the Welsh backs threw caution to the wind and looked to run the ball from everywhere. This high-risk approach was rewarded as the wily Ross delayed his pass perfectly to open up a gap in the Warriors defence and substitute Lewis didn’t need a second invitation to charge through to the line.

The score made it 39-8 and the Worcester players clearly thought it was little more than a consolation from the plucky visitors. However, Hill’s men were soon thinking differently as three tries in seven minutes saw Welsh secure a well-deserved bonus point.

Lewis went over for his second try of the game on 70 minutes after patient build up by the visitors, while wing Gibson capitalised on a combination of good fortune and poor Warriors play to score the third.

The alert wideman pounced on the loose ball when it squirted out of a ruck near the touchline, but replacement hooker Chris Fortey should have made a better attempt at stopping him getting past.

A minute later, and prolific Welsh winger Josh Drauniniu showed his predatory instincts to out-strip the Warriors defence and join Garvey and Benjamin on 14 for the season.