Saturday, November 30,2002

WORCESTER came within a whisker of a highly embarrassing defeat at Halifax before squelching to victory.

The Sixways side, still reeling from last weekend's devastation at Rotherham, made heavy weather of their fifth round test of character and could easily have been knocked out of the Powergen Cup after a error-strewn display.

Had Graham Holroyd's 78th minute penalty sailed between the posts, Worcester would have missed out on a sixth round clash at Leicester Tigers.

Holroyd's penalty, however, fell short and the visitors held on for the win in desperate conditions.

Hugo Southwell and Tom Richardson's first half tries plus a Tim Walsh penalty, midway through the second half, were eventually enough to see Worcester through but it was nail-biting stuff for coaches John Brain and Andy Keast.

In truth, this was easily their worst performance of the season with basic errors costing them ball retention time after time at Ovenden Park. Brain had hoped for a convincing victory to complete their rehabilitation following Millmoor but the Warriors began sloppily and never recovered.

Buoyed on by a partisan Yorkshire crowd, Halifax moved the ball around well in the opening stages and would have taken a 20th minute lead had Holroyd had his shooting boots on.

However, it was the visitors who struck the first worthwhile blow when Nnamdi Ezulike made a break on the right and Hugo Southwell, in for the injured Duncan Roke, made the overlap count once the ball had been moved along the back line.

Walsh's conversion was wide but Worcester had their noses in front.

A mixture of indiscipline and perplexing decisions from referee Wayne Barnes meant that the home side were always in the hunt for penalties and Holroyd's 24th minute effort brought Halifax back into the game.

With Worcester crossing, losing line-outs and turning ball over, it was becoming a struggle as the rain poured down. Richardson gave them some breathing space, though, as he sped into the corner for Worcester's second of the day but Halifax had the final word of the half as Holroyd slotted another penalty.

Halifax drew closer, eight minutes into the second period, as Holroyd kicked his third penalty and the crowd began to fancy an upset from the National Three North amateurs. That hope was diluted, somewhat, when Alex Ledger was yellow carded for persistent infringing and Walsh made it 13-9 with the resultant penalty.

Worcester, though, were never able to make the extra man count and, despite an impressive burst from trialist Jamie Ringer, they were still just four points ahead when Ledger returned.

Indeed, once Mark Gabey and Rob Davis were also sent to the sin-bin for trading blows, Halifax seemed to gain the upper hand. They continued to test out their illustrious opponents with high balls while, more worryingly, their pack began to get on top. Another penalty, for a scrum offence, was punished with Holroyd's 70th minute effort and, with just one point separating the two, the crowd were baying for blood.

With two minutes to go, there stood Holroyd with a chance, from 40 metres, to make history. The kick, though, just wasn't good enough and Worcester heaved a huge sigh of relief as they looked forward to their December 21 trip to Welford Road.

Worcester: Southwell 6; Ezulike 6, NHINSHELWOOD 7, Trueman 6, Richardson 5, Walsh 5, O'Reilly 6; G Mason 6, Hall 6, Olver 5, Gabey 5, Morgan 6, Ringer 6, Jenner 6.

Replacements: Higgins, Ogilvie-Bull, Chalmers, Pearl, Lyman (Olver 71), Percival, Payne.

Man of the match: Ben Hinshelwood -- useful display from the recently returned centre.