Montpellier 8 Worcester Warriors 3 (From Worcester News)

Montpellier 8 Worcester Warriors 3

9:17pm Friday 22nd January 2010 in

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WORCESTER Warriors paid the price for three yellow cards as their Amlin Challenge Cup campaign ended in defeat in the south of France.

An early penalty from Matthew Jones gave Warriors a 3-0 half-time lead before Willie Walker and James Collins came close to scoring on a cold evening at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir.

Referee Neil Patterson yellow-carded Matt Cox in the first-half for a high tackle but it was after the interval that Warriors were re-duced to 13 men.

Back-row duo James Collins and Tom Wood were sin-binned in the space of four minutes and Montpellier took full advantage with Marc Giraud touching down for the only try of the match.

Warriors started the game on the front foot as they won a succession of penalties and centre Greg King, who this week signed a new two-year deal, made valuable yards in midfield before Jones saw his first kick of the evening slide past the posts.

Montpellier had to wait until mid-way through the first-half to mount some pressure, but solid visiting defence stopped them in their tracks as Ryan Powell cleared.

Warriors were dealt a blow ten minutes before the break when flanker Matt Cox was yellow-carded for a high tackle.

Walker replaced centre Dale Rasmussen at the break and it was Worcester who started the better as Cox also returned after his ten minutes on the sidelines.

From a scrum just metres from the Montpellier try line, Walker and then Collins came close to touching down before Jones saw a drop-goal miss the target.

For the second time on the night, Worcester suffered a yellow card to James Collins for a professional foul. Soon after, Warriors were down to 13 men as Wood was yellow-carded on 59 minutes as he looked to stem the home pressure.

With two back-rowers missing, the home side turned the screw to score through Giraud.

A penalty against Graham Kitchener for holding saw Montpellier go further ahead through a Schutte penalty before Wood returned to the fold for Worcester.

Wing Marcel Garvey showed neat footwork to almost release Jonny Arr on his shoulder before Warriors staged one final attack through the forwards until the ball was turned over and participation in the cup ended for both sides.