WORCESTER have drawn first blood in the psychological league championship battle by beating their main rivals Rotherham 21-10 at Sixways.

The game hung in the balance until the final 20 minutes when clever tactical kicking and superior fitness made all the difference.

Rotherham were without two of their leading players in number eight Mike Schmid and full-back Mike Umaga who are both absent due to the World Cup.

Yet they could still have beaten Worcester but for dismal kicking from Simon Binns who attempted five simple penalties but landed just one of them.

In contrast Worcester's Tony Yapp seems to have settled into the groove after his return to Sixways and scored 16 of his side's points. Replacement flanker James Cockle completed the scoring with an injury time push over try.

Worcester were also outstanding in defence, particularly in the first half, and few people inside a tense Sixways thought Rotherham's second-half try from Ben Wade should have counted.

Rotherham could argue they deserved the points but Wade seemed to have dropped the ball over the line only for referee Ashley Rowden to give the score.

That levelled the game at 10-10 with 27 minutes left to play, but Worcester held their nerve to stay top of the Allied Dunbar Premiership Two league table.

"I can't comment about their try until I've seen the video, but the referee gave it so we had to get on with it," said Director of Rugby Les Cusworth.

"It was another very close game between the sides and it was a difficult first half for us but we defended magnificently. We were also good coming forward and nearly scored a magnificent try through winger Nick Baxter after some great work in the centres.

"Our players showed great character after Rotherham hit back to level and there was some sensible kicking from half-back in the closing stages.

"It's certainly nice to get one back over Rotherham after the disappointments of last season, this levels things up a bit."

Flanker Nathan Carter said greater fitness is proving to be one of Worcester's main weapons this season.

"You've got to be patient as the higher up the leagues you go the longer it takes to break sides down," he said.

"It took over 70 minutes to wear Rotherham down today and that allowed us to get the push over try at the end.

"We had to hold out, stick to our guns and not panic. We've now won four out of four and you can't get any better than that."