Saturday, October 18, 2003

IT was difficult to assess just who were the real winners on Saturday.

Ultimately, Worcester enjoyed the numerical advantage but it was Exeter who went away from Sixways buoyant from their minor recovery.

The Warriors will now face a Powergen Cup fifth round tie away to Wakefield, a distraction which is utterly unwanted at this stage of the season.

It is a conundrum that Worcester, when entrenched in a mindset which allows no diversion, will have to solve until they bid farewell to National One.

"The cup is a hindrance," said Worcester's coach Andy Keast. "We are obligated but it's not good for us. The players' focus is solely on National One but the cup is there so we've got to play it."

A paltry crowd also confirmed the lack of appetite for such a game and reinforced the view that the promotion hopefuls really only have one thing on their minds. It certainly seemed that way with a performance which ranked as one of the worst of the season.

Two tries apiece from Duncan Roke and Ben Daly were the highlights and a lead of 33-15 after 80 minutes reflected a fairly comfortable outing. However, the fact that they then let the Chiefs get within six points after a crazy final three minutes illustrated just why the coaches called the squad in for extra training yesterday morning.

Not good enough was the verdict but, in truth, Worcester were never in any danger of losing the match. Exeter's kicking game was no threat and only in the final few minutes -- when they decided to run the ball -- did they ever look like scoring.

Worcester were 13 points to the good early on courtesy of a Roke try and penalties and a conversion from Tommy Hayes. Lee Fortey's yellow card at the end of the half gave the Chiefs a sniff, however, and they were just 13-12 behind early in the second period thanks to Yapp's boot.

The tries began to flow in that second as Daly twice crossed and Roke grabbed his second. Replacement James Brown added a penalty and a conversion to put the result beyond any doubt, or so it seemed.

With the defence packing up after 80 minutes, Exeter ran in two tries from Richard John and then Dermot Kelly with Yapp taking his tally to 17 points for the day.

All in all, it was a frantic finish to a fairly pedestrian game which left yet another huge question mark alongside the validity of cup rugby.

Worcester: Roke 7, O'Leary 6, Davies 6, Murray 5, Garrard 6, Hayes 6, LPOWELL 8; Fortey 6, Daly 7, Lyman 6, Zaltzman 6, Gillies 6, Gabey 7, M Evans 6, Hickey 6.

Replacements: McAtee, Brown 6 (Hayes 46), Hylton, Clunis, Windo 6 (Fortey 62), Mason 6 (M Evans 45), Percival.

Man of the match: Matt Powell -- consistent throughout.