A STIRRING performance from Worcester Saints ended in defeat as Gloucester Warriors ran in three late tries to seal a 42-20 victory.

Both sides were evenly matched and it was only in the final quarter of the game that Gloucester's superior fitness allowed them to take both points in this TotalRL.com Rugby League Conference South West Division clash.

With the temperature in the mid 20's the home side made the early running and took the lead after only five minutes with an unconverted try.

In previous encounters between the teams this would have signalled the start of a one sided contest but the Saints struck back when Richard Whitehouse broke through the defence to release Grant Fraser to score under the posts.

Whitehouse added the extra points to bring the scores level. Worcester then took the lead with a Whitehouse penalty on 17 minutes.

Gloucester levelled the score within minutes with an unconverted try and then pulled further ahead with three tries in quick succession to lead at the interval 22-8.

The half-time break revived the visitors and it was no surprise when Whitehouse broke the home defence for his second try of the afternoon, Richard Jenkinson added a second try minutes later and with Whitehouse converting both the lead was reduced to two points with 20 minutes remaining.

With the result in the balance a mistake from either side was going to be decisive and so it proved to be when an error from the Saints close to their try line allowed the Warriors to score a try.

Needing two scores to the win the match the Saints pressed forward, leaving gaps in their defence.

These gaps were fully exploited by the home team who took control of the match for the first time, running in three breakaway tries in the space of seven minutes.

Parkhouse Recruitment man-of-the-match: Manny Samra.