Saturday, March 29, 2003

WORCESTER can at last see a glimpse of the chequered flag after fumbling through the gears at College Grove.

They hit fifth a number of times against a resilient Wakefield side but, much to the coaches' consternation, slipped into reverse for a good 20 minutes.

After working their way to cruise control at half time, the National One leaders somehow put themselves in danger of a blow out as they let a 31-15 lead slip to 31-29.

In the end it was all academic as they hit the turbo boost to get them home but for coaches John Brain and Andy Keast it certainly wasn't easy on the eye.

As the final whistle rang around the West Yorkshire venue, though, everyone connected with the club were thinking of one date - April 12.

That day has cast a shadow over the last month of the season and it was clear that Worcester's players already had one eye on the promotion showdown with Rotherham while they were on the Wakefield turf.

Easy

"It's only natural," said Keast afterwards. "It's a match everyone has been looking forward to for a long time and the players, after all, are only human.

"It's nice to know that the players can turn it on when it's needed but, as a coach, it doesn't always make it easy to watch when they go down a gear or two."

This College Grove encounter was always about the result. Performance was a very clear second and, with the Rotherham game around the corner, it would be pointless to read too much into the display.

However, leaking 36 points against a less-than-flamboyant attacking force was never on the agenda. And with Rotherham's pack due to arrive at Sixways soon, the levels of concentration will need to be sharpened somewhat.

Certainly, when Worcester fed the backs with quick ball, they looked a completely different proposition. Three tries in the first 25 minutes were testament to that. After going behind, somewhat unluckily to an interception try from Jon Feeley, Worcester were back in the game through a penalty try when Tim Walsh was adjudged to have been tripped rather than tackled.

Walsh's 23rd minute turnover tackle then led to try number two as James Brown fed David Officer who hurdled a challenge before putting in the ever willing Duncan Roke. Brown's delightful pass, two minutes later, and Roke's classic take at speed was enough to make it three for the day as a supporting Nnamdi Ezulike, running practically on one leg with an injured knee, strolled in.

Gavin Pfister wrapped up the bonus point for the Warriors, with six minutes of the half remaining, when he was driven over but another lapse in focus allowed Mick Watson in for Wakefield's second and Casey Mee's conversion.

By then Brown had taken his record to 21 consecutive conversions with a double but two uncharacteristic misses blotted his copybook somewhat. He made amends, though, just before the break when he slotted his third following another Roke try, this time courtesy of good work from Tom Richardson.

Wakefield, despite having Jon Skurr yellow carded for killing the ball, had the final word of the half with a Mee penalty but the alarm bells certainly weren't ringing with a 31-15 interval scoreline. But, 23 minutes later, the crowd were shouting wakey, wakey and it wasn't for the home side.

Prop Derek Jelley ran past a defence which, ahem, quivered aside before Mee easily sidestepped Walsh and added his third conversion to reduce the gap to a mere two points.

Cue the cavalry and Craig Quinnell from the bench. The powerhouse forward, on after 65 minutes for Dan Zaltzman, enjoyed his most productive cameo yet as he added extra bulk to the pack. Indeed, with 10 minutes left, the additional weight tipped the scales as he was driven over and Worcester were back on track following Brown's conversion.

Brown was on target again soon after as Walsh put in Ezulike for the winger's second of the day before the Australian fly half began to exert some control on proceedings. His sidestep took out two Wakefield midfielders and Officer just wasn't about to be stopped as he took the pass from the Aussie.

Back came Wakefield with Mark Sowerby's pushover try and Mee's conversion but there was still time for Walsh to cap a much improved second half performance with a try at the death following Roke's timely burst.

So job done, points in the bag and look ahead to Rotherham. Blood pressure checks all round though.

Worcester: LROKE 8, Ezulike 6, Walsh 6, Officer 7, Richardson 6, Brown 7, Swanepoel 7; Windo 7, Hall 6, Olver 6, Zaltzman 6, Gillies 6, Evans 7, Pfister 7, Jenner 6.

Replacements: O'Reilly 5 (Swanepoel 45), Southwell (Richardson 77), Ogilvie-Bull, Parkes (Hall 73), Davis, N Mason 7 (Evans 55), Quinnell 6 (Zaltzman 65).

Man of the match: DUNCAN ROKE - showing his best form at just the right time.