WARRIORS were denied a draw by the width of the post as they came up agonisingly short in a scrappy but compelling match.

Shane Drahm's conversion attempt with five minutes remaining would have levelled the scores but the ball came back off the right-hand upright.

And the fly-half, within five of claiming 1,000 career Premiership points, saw a penalty attempt in the final seconds fall just short.

After three pitch inspections, referee Roy Maybank finally decided the match would go ahead just an hour before kick-off, despite ever-increasing fog descending on Sixways.

Warriors put out their strongest available line-up which included captain Pat Sanderson, who hadn't appeared in a Premiership game since October 13.

Drew Hickey returned to the starting line-up, albeit in an unfamiliar role at number six.

London Irish were without injured England centre Mike Catt but still had plenty of danger men amongst the backs, including Topsy Ojo and Delon Armitage.

It was Irish who put the first points on the board when fly-half Barry Everitt struck a third minute penalty.

Worcester's attempts to hit straight back floundered when they were penalised for a crooked throw at the line-out. Irish regained the initiative and Everitt kicked brilliantly into the corner, where Ojo sped past Mark Tucker to score the game's first try.

The hosts made a better fist of their next line-out as Craig Gillies' catch was followed by a drive for the line. They came up just short and, when the ball was recycled, Irish were penalised for off-side and Drahm was successful with the easy penalty attempt.

A scrappy 15 minutes followed although Warriors were not done any favours by Maybank, who failed to spot a knock-on by Ojo on his own 22-metre line.

Drahm finally gave the crowd something to cheer about when he slotted a drop goal from less than 10 metres inside the Irish half.

Four minutes before half-time, the England 'A' international continued his kicking exhibition with a penalty from inside his own half, which just crept over the crossbar.

Not to be outdone, Everitt added a three-pointer on the stroke of half-time, to give his side a four-point advantage going into the break.

The Exiles fly-half's attempted a drop-goal early in the second-half was charged down by Chris Horsman but he did add a further penalty on 51 minutes.

Warriors were let off when Ojo wriggled his way to within a couple of metres of the line but Irish were penalised for holding on. The pacy winger had another opportunity following a jinking run by scrum-half Paul Hodgson but he was shoved into the touch when a try looked a certainty.

The home side were struggling to gain field position until Tucker's punt up the line gave Warriors the chance to drive for the line. Matt Powell delivered the ball to James Brown and the replacement full-back played a delightful grubber kick which Aisea Havili got on the end with.

Just before Drahm started his run-up for the conversion, Ojo scampered towards him. Maybank raised his arm but, despite Drahm's protests, he was not allowed to re-take the kick that would have earned an unlikely draw.

Warriors: Delport (Brown); Havili, Rasmussen, Lombard, Tucker; Drahm, M Powell; Morris, C Fortey (Lutui), Horsman, Gillies, Murphy (Collier), Hickey (Harding), Sanderson, Hortsmann.

Attendance: 9,382.