WORCESTER gloriously wrestled their destiny back into their own hands yesterday.

The Warriors came away from Newcastle with a stunning 21-16 win which lifted them up to ninth in the Zurich Premiership and three points off basement boys Leeds.

After the Tykes' surprising win at Gloucester on Saturday, the pressure was on Worcester to get something out of the Kingston Park clash. And head coach Andy Keast admitted that the Warriors rose to the occasion magnificently.

"That was the biggest pressure game in Worcester's history and I can't find the words to express how proud we are of the players," said Keast.

"The effort the players put in through the whole game was fantastic. They worked for each other throughout the game and as the statistics show this is a hell of a place to come and win. On top of that, the pressure was on us because of where we are in the league. It is so tight, it's going to go to the wire. Let's hope those four points can go a long way to securing our survival."

Worcester climbed three places to join London Irish on 38 points and, with two games left, are a point better than Harlequins and two ahead of Northampton and Leeds.

Although five teams are separated by just three points, Worcester's eighth win of the campaign could be a telling statistic at the end of the season.

Keast added: "We have the worst points difference in the league but it comes down to wins first and we have eight. Quins have just six so the pressure is on them. If we perform in our next two games as we did against Newcastle then we will come out with something.

"Prior to the first game of the season we were under no illusions of the quality of the league and we have just got stronger.

"We came into the league with 20 players who had been playing in National One. We have got better as the season has gone on."