Worcester 39 Manchester 15

THE title may have gone north and the coach headed west into the sunset but Worcester are still a good side at Sixways.

With expectation lifted to incredible heights only to be dashed on the rocks of Rotherham's Clifton Road, it is easy to forget Worcester are a force for anybody at home.

Saturday's 39-15 victory means they have won all but one of their 13 home matches and Leeds' six-pont victory in January went to the wire.

Rotherham and Leeds are now beyond touching distance but Saturday's game was still important for Worcester after last week's debacle at Rugby.

Pride was more important than the two league points and after half an hour the players had proved their point by marching into a 22-0 lead.

The key was ball retention, just as Rugby had done to them the previous week, Worcester denied Manchester a sniff of possession and eventually the gaps opened up.

First debutant stand-off Stephen Ward squeezed through the midfield and the link through Rob Myler gave winger Mat Walker the space to score.

Tony Yapp converted and added a penalty for a 10-0 lead and Yapp was also at the forefront of the next try, coming into the line to make the important half-break for Jim Jenner to crash over.

The move started with a line-out and the third try came from the same platform, this time the ball being kept tight with Tony Windo surging up to the line before fellow prop Andy Collins forced his way over.

Trailing 22-0 Manchester could have given up the chase but they came back into the contest with tries either side of the break.

A ball to the back of their line-out saw a drive from the forwards into the heart of the Worcester 22 where prop Mark Beckett supplied the scoring pass to lively number eight Stuart Williams.

Four minutes after the break patient build-up saw lock Richard Bradshaw score from close range and Manchester were suddenly within ten points of a shock.

But top-scorer Nick Baxter, looking much hungrier than in recent weeks, finished well for his 12th of the season and gradually the game died away as Manchester lacked the invention or the energy to upset their hosts.

For the finale scrum-half Chris Simpson-Daniel scored his third in two games, wriggling through the Manchester pack from a line-out, but the best was saved until last with Worcester breaking from their own 22 to half-way through Walker where Shaun Woof sent Mark Eastwood clear.

It was a fitting end for the Sixways campaign but the away day woes, which could surface again next week, will have to be banished if Worcester are to lift the title next season.

Worcester: Yapp, Baxter, Woof, Myler (Eastwood 50), Walker, Ward, Simpson-Daniel, Windo, Richards (Hall 82), Collins, (Lyman 56), Merlin, Raymond, Scriven (Denham 54), Carter (capt), Jenner.

Replacements not used: Daws, Currier, Fenley.

Attendance: 1,719