A LATE try from Ed O'Donoghue could not prevent Worcester going down 30-19 to a strong Leicester Tigers side in their Guinness A meeting at Welford Road last night.

The match marked the return to competitive action of Leicester's British Lions star Ollie Smith and the young centre marked his comeback with a try.

A crowd of 5,079 watched the two development sides battle it out and Worcester's pack caused the Tigers plenty of problems.

Warriors made a strong start to the match, with No.12 Simon Whatling putting over a simple penalty in the first minute.

Tigers fly-half Ian Humphreys had a chance to equalise just three minutes later, pushing a long-range attempt wide, before the hosts shifted up a gear through a concerted forward effort.

A dashing 60-metre break from new-boy Humphreys was the start of a sustained period of pressure from the home side, but it was finally transferred into points on the board when loose-head prop Dave Young crashed over after a storming run from just inside the Worcester 22. Humphreys converted from right in front.

Flanker Tom Croft planted the ball over the whitewash for try number two and Humphreys added the extras to give Tigers a 14-3 lead which was extended further by two more penalties from the Irishman before half-time.

Whatling added penalties in the 44th and 52nd minute to swing the momentum back Worcester's way. That was snuffed out by Smith's score when he collected the grubber and dived over.

O'Donoghue, a summer signing from Northampton, can play at lock or in the back row.

Last night he operated at blind-side and he grabbed a consolation score for his side, which was cancelled out by Will Skinner just before the end.