Friday, November 4, 2005

A GALLANT team effort gave Worcester Warriors their first ever win over Leicester on an electric night at Sixways.

Shane Drahm kicked five penalties for Worcester but they still had to survive a heart-stopping last few minutes before they could register the historic win.

Eventually, a superb rearguard effort and some sloppy Leicester passing allowed Warriors to secure the result that keeps them in touch with the pace-setters in the Guinness Premiership.

The hosts, who were desperate to avenge the two heavy defeats that Tigers inflicted on them last season, started the match without two of their most influential figures.

Skipper Pat Sanderson and prop Chris Horsman were on England and Wales duty respectively. They were replaced in the pack by Tevita Taumoepeau and Johnny Tuamoheloa, while a third Tongan player, wing Aisea Havili, returned to the Warriors side after sitting out their two European Challenge Cup matches.

Tigers were below full-strength with the likes of Martin Corry and Geordan Murphy also on international duty, while Ollie Smith and Andy Goode were on the bench after being released by England.

But there was still plenty of menace in a side which included England's World-Cup winning lock Ben Kay and former Worcester prop Alejandro Moreno.

Kay and fellow second-rower James Hamilton were both sin-binned on the night and Worcester's numerical advantage was certainly a factor in the outcome, even though they only managed to put on three points when they had an extra man.

Drahm made a slow start to his Warriors career after joining from Northampton in the summer but he proved he is back in the groove with his penalties, which all came in the first-half.

The only blot on his copybook was when he pushed what looked like the easiest kick of the night just wide of the post.

Other than that, the Australian was at the heart of the Warriors attack and his field-kicking was exceptional.

They went behind to an early penalty from Ross Broadfoot before Drahm slotted a pair of kicks from wide on the right, much to the delight of the capacity crowd.

But it looked ominous when Will Skinner burrowed over for Leicester after just 14 minutes. Broadfoot though missed the conversion, to go with a missed penalty two minutes earlier, and Worcester were let off the hook.

Warriors then looked set to make the most of Kay's departure for throwing a punch at Craig Gillies but Andy Gomarsall's handling let him down as they went for the final push.

A pair of Drahm penalties in first-half stoppage time gave Worcester an advantage that they would not relinquish.

The second-half was a much better spectacle even if a penalty from Goode was the only score registered by either side.

His introduction shortly after the break looked like it might turn the game in Tigers' favour but Worcester's resilience ultimately won the day.

Tony Windo, captain in the absence of Sanderson, won two vital turnovers and Gillies was back to his dominant best at the line-out after a shaky first-half.

The backs looked threatening and Thomas Lombard made a couple of decisive breaks but ultimately the defence was what shone through for both sides.

That was certainly the aspect that most pleased head coach Anthony Eddy.

"I thought we probably defended well for the entire game," he said. "I know we dominated possession. With a team like Leicester you've got to dominate possession and you've got to dominate field position."

WARRIORS: Le Roux, Havili, Hinshelwood, Lombard, Delport, Drahm, Gomarsall, Windo, C Fortey, Taumoepeau, Murphy, Gillies, Horstmann, Tuamoheloa (Vaili), Hickey.

SCORERS: Penalties: Drahm (5).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Drew Hickey.

REFEREE: Roy Maybank.

ATTENDANCE: 9,726.