DIRECTOR of rugby Alan Solomons said it was a “tragedy” that Worcester Warriors were unable to beat Exeter Chiefs who came from behind to win 24-20 at Sixways.

Solomons was adamant Warriors “deserved” to come away victorious after leading 17-3 in the opening period and they held a 20-17 advantage going into the final 10 minutes.

But Solomons was left seething as two costly mistakes from Michael Fatialofa and Chris Pennell led to late scores.

Matt Kvesic crashed over shortly after Fatialofa was penalised on halfway before Harry Williams scored the match-winning try which came off the back of a miscued kick to touch by Pennell.

“I’m really disappointed because that was a game we should have won but for a lack of discipline,” Solomons said.

“We have the ball on halfway but clean out with no arms. A penalty was correctly given and we end up with a lineout five metres away from our line.

“We spoke about being disciplined and not giving away penalties in our middle third.

“They draw level and then we shank a kick with no pressure on us. That leads directly to a second try.

“Those are the fine margins you play at this level. You can’t afford to give away silly penalties and make unforced errors.”

Perry Humphreys struck twice to give Warriors a 14-point advantage in the first half and a resilient defensive display almost saw them seal victory.

“That was the tragedy as the team played so well,” Solomons said.

“I have got no doubt in my mind we deserved to win that game.

“But we were the authors of our own misfortune.

“You just lose your head for a minute and that costs you.”

Warriors suffered a double blow before the interval when Sam Lewis was forced off with a head injury before Jack Maunder crossed.

“We were very positive (at half-time),” Solomons added.

“It’s unfortunate as we gave them a try right on half-time so we should have gone in there at 17-3 up, not 17-10.

“We said the first 10 minutes of the second half were absolutely critical. We didn’t think beyond that and we did fine with that.

“At the end of the day it boils down to a lack of discipline and errors that cost us the match.”

Exeter boss Rob Baxter was delighted his side got “some reward for a lot of hard work” as they bounced back from the previous week’s defeat at Bath.

“We pinned our game together better and the penalties we gave away weren’t the same type as last week,” Baxter said.

“It wasn’t ill-discipline from us, it was just good work by Worcester.

“If the game sprung on any ill-discipline it came from Worcester later in the game which gave us field position and allowed us to score.

“The foundation of our game held up a lot better and our ability to move from solid scrum to lineout to attack and hold onto the ball was very good.”