FEW things define a city or town's place in the minds of the great British public more than sport - and even fewer can be relied upon to lift a community's self-esteem.

Tomorrow, rugby's Worcester Warriors meet Rotherham at Sixways with top-flight sport an enticing prize for victory.

The recent years of the club's well-funded, yet meteoric, rise have seen good days and bad.

But the players are prepared. They may have joined the cause from far and wide, but never has there been a company of men more determined to win for their adopted home - and for their benefactor, Cecil Duckworth.

They thrive on a unity and purpose that's sadly missing in most workplaces around the Faithful City. They've earned the right to hold their destiny in their own hands.

So, tomorrow will require the kind of patience and skill Sir Graeme Hick used to complete his 100 hundreds.

It will demand the same depth of belief which won boxer Alan Edwards his ABA crown.

It will depend upon the volume of backing which echoed round the streets when City defeated Liverpool in 1959.

Finally, on the dark day of October 31, 1914, the men of 2nd Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment sealed their place in history by stopping the German Army breaking through British lines in the First Battle of Ypres.

It was the day Major Hankey led his men up a long slope to victory, sword outstretched.

Sixways is hardly Gheluvelt, but the same never-say-die spirit tomorrow will write a new chapter in Faithful City history. Come on, you Warriors.