DIRECTOR of rugby Gary Gold was elated and proud after Worcester Warriors sealed a richly-deserved 25-19 victory against his former club Bath.

The ex-South Africa assistant coach praised the work of the club’s conditioning team but admitted Warriors must be more ruthless in looking after the ball.

“I am elated and very proud of the guys,” said Gold, after the vital win significantly boosted Worcester’s Aviva Premiership survival hopes.

“It’s a massive credit to this group of guys. They didn’t want to be in this position. I am not necessarily sure it’s entirely their fault they are in this position but they are the only ones who could get us out and they’ve carried on the fight.

“With a small lead (towards the end of the match), we had a real incentive of looking after the ball and trying to get a fourth try.

“I think a lot of credit must go to the conditioning team.

"When I came in here at the end of January I didn’t think we were fit enough. I didn’t think the team could live with teams of Bath’s and Wasps’ quality. Paddy Anson and his group have done a great job and I think the guys are looking fitter and in better shape.”

But Gold was disappointed with Bath’s try just before the break when Matt Banahan beat Chris Pennell’s attempted tackle and powered to the whitewash.

“Bath's try before half-time was yet again unbelievably disappointing and we’ve done that so many times,” said Gold.

“At 3-3 we were in the fight and I thought it was a soft try, although it was very well taken by Bath.

“We closed the gate too late and missed Banners when he ran through so it felt like deja-vu.”

However, Ryan Mills’ wind-assisted penalty from inside his own territory on the stroke of half-time gave Warriors a boost.

“I think that penalty was probably a lift we needed going in the changing rooms,” said Gold.

“There was a buzz in our step but we knew we would be playing into the wind in the next 40 minutes.”

Warriors then produced their best second-half performance of the campaign and hit back from 13-6 down after 45 minutes with tries from Josh Adams, Wynand Olivier and Will Spencer.

“I thought Ben Te’o showed his class, Jackson Willison was outstanding and Wynand was very good when he came on,” said Gold.

“I don’t think anyone had a poor game and Will Spencer was also outstanding. They asked a lot of questions with ball in hand."

The Warriors chief felt that, at 25-19 ahead and pressing towards the Bath line, they could have kicked a penalty rather than aimed for a try-scoring bonus point.

“It’s a difficult one," said Gold.

"They boys were feeling confident they could score tries and really wanted to go for it. I think we probably need to look at our game-management but we got away with it.”

Like most of the crowd, Gold was anxious towards the end after the stadium’s countdown clock froze with less than eight minutes remaining - and was then switched off.

“It was nerve-wracking,” said Gold. “I went through lots of cups of coffee with the clock stuck on 8:31.”