JOHN Brain paid tribute to his 'Captain Marvel' as a Ben Clarke-inspired Worcester roared back to the top of National One.

The Sixways chief was delighted with his team who clinched five league points with a 40-23 win at Otley despite a stirring second half comeback by the Yorkshiremen.

With Worcester leading 25-11 at half time, Otley came out in the second half with all guns blazing to make it 25-23. However, with Clarke's calming influence as Worcester's skipper for the day, Brain's men squeezed the accelerator to burn past their hosts and seal victory.

Clarke stepped in as captain following the 11th hour withdrawal of Kingsley Jones because of a slight hamstring strain.

Jones is expected to be fit again next week but Brain was in little doubt, Clarke's influence had a major bearing on the result which put Worcester on top of the table again with Rotherham not playing on Saturday.

"We came back very strongly once our lead was threatened," he said. "Ben Clarke did very well captaining the side because we lost Kingsley Jones 24 hours before the game with a hamstring injury. That in itself is very disrupting to lose someone so important at such a late stage. It's not a bad option, though, for a coach to have Ben Clarke to call up as skipper when Kingsley pulls out!

"I couldn't have asked for more from Ben. He, with Craig Chalmers, stuck to the game plan that I set out beforehand and we've come away from Otley with a good result. It's great to have someone like Ben in you squad because he brings so much experience to the team."

The former Gloucester man, although critical of his team's defensive frailties which led to 23 points conceded, paid tribute to the character shown in the wake of a second half fightback by the home side.

"Our character was tested in the course of the game," he added. "It would have been easy to us to fold at 25-23 and then go on and lose the match. But we know what is at stake and we know, after losing to Coventry this season, we cannot afford another slip. We weathered the storm and eventually came out with a very good result. Wakefield and Otley away looked tough games on the back of the Coventry defeat but 10 points from the two matches is very satisfying."