Leicester Tigers 27 Worcester Warriors 31.

DON'T bother thumbing through the history books to find the last time Warriors won at Welford Road – you’ll draw a blank.

And for the legions of travelling Worcester fans, the last victory on the road is also buried in the mists of time … a lot has happened in the 20 months since Worcester saw off Harlequins in March 2016.

So few would have given Gary Gold’s men a chance against a Tigers side who went into this game looking for a seventh straight victory.

Admittedly the hosts were without their international stars but they will still have expected to see off a Worcester team with such a wretched record on the road.

But Leicester were soon having to rethink their strategy as the Warriors, clad top to toe in red, dazzled their hosts with some sublime rugby inside the opening seven minutes as they surged into a 12-point lead.

The opening try came from a catch and drive down in the right-hand corner on four minutes with back row Alafoti Faosiliva dotting down.

Three minutes later the impressive Josh Adams scampered down the left to gather Ryan Mills’ grubber kick before sprinting over the line with Chris Pennell slotting over the conversion.

Those two tries had the home side reeling but they gathered their composure to turn the half – and ultimately the match – into a real nail-biter.

Lock Mike Fitzgerald showed some neat footwork to sidestep over the line to reduce the arrears on 22 minutes after a period of Tigers pressure. Joe Ford kicked the extras and then added a penalty to close the gap to 12-10 by the half-hour.

The frantic pace eased a little before the game exploded back into life as half-time approached. And it was Adams who lit the touch paper, weaving his way through what seemed the entire Tigers midfield before scoring the try of the game. Lance kicked the extras to stretch the lead to nine going into the final seconds of the half but the drama wasn’t over yet.

The Warriors gave away a string of penalties to keep the game alive for the hosts and it was from the third of these that Valentino Mapapalangi was driven over, Ford’s kick making it 19-17 to the visitors at the break.

After such a frenetic opening period, it was no surprise that the second half lacked some of the intensity. But there was no shortage of great rugby and a splendid break through the middle from Bryce Heem resulted in hooker Jack Singleton popping up to complete another fine Warriors try, Pennell again with the extras.

Much of the remainder of the game saw Worcester on the back foot and their defence was top drawer to keep out a Tigers side looking to stretch their winning run. And even when prop Nick Schonert was binned with 15 minutes to go, Leicester struggled to find a way through.

Ford slotted over a penalty but the Warriors stretched their advantage to 11 points when centre Ryan Mills dotted down, a try that should have finished the hosts off.

A converted Gareth Owen effort gave them hope but the Warriors stood firm to deny them victory and ensure that long wait for a Welford Road win was finally over.