Harlequins 36-14 Worcester: Second-half Quins down Warriors at the Stoop
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 29/10/16 6:04pm
Harlequins produced a strong second-half performance to see off Worcester 36-14 and continue their impressive home form.
It was a fifth home win in succession for Quins - a stark contrast to their poor away form which has seen them lose all four matches on the road.
It was 7-7 at half-time with Worcester making too many basic errors to reward their first half superiority, before the second half saw Quins step up a gear to collect a bonus-point win.
Joe Marchant, Danny Care, Mike Brown, Tim Visser and James Horwill scored tries for Quins, with Nick Evans kicking a penalty and three conversions. Tim Swiel added another conversion late in the game.
Ben Te'o spearheaded Worcester's performance and, along with midfield partner Jackson Willison, they scored Warriors' tries, with Jamie Shillcock adding two conversions.
Worcester dominated the opening minutes but it was the hosts who took the lead against the run of play when Visser intercepted a Dean Hammond pass to race away. The wing was chased down by Shillcock but Care was up in support to take Visser's pass to score.
Evans converted before Shillcock had a chance to put his side on the scoreboard but his straightforward penalty attempt went wide.
However, the Warriors soon overcame the miss to draw level after 10 minutes when from a lineout in the opposition 22, Te'o brushed aside a tackle from Luke Wallace to create a try for Willison.
After the exciting opening period, the game became error-ridden and disjointed but when Joe Marler was sin-binned for collapsing a maul, the visitors had their chance to capitalise.
Ryan Lamb kicked the penalty to the corner to secure a five metre lineout, but Warriors gave away their first penalty of the game by a careless offside to relieve the pressure on Quins.
In Marler's absence, Worcester never threatened the home side's try-line and the score remained 7-7 at the interval.
Warriors were made to pay when Quins produced their best movement of the match to score their second try within five minutes of the restart. Strong runs from James Chisholm and Winston Stanley put the visitors' defence on the back foot before Care's pass sent Horwill crashing over.
Four minutes later, Quins scored their third try when Brown skipped past a couple of defenders for an excellent solo score, with Evans converting to leave Warriors with a mountain to climb.
To their credit, they responded immediately when a well-judged pass from Ryan Lamb created a gap for Willison, who raced through it to create a try for Te'o.
Worcester had another chance when on half-way, a Stanley pass was picked off by Phil Dowson but the veteran No 8 lacked the pace to make it to the line.
With 17 minutes remaining, Warriors collapsed a driving maul and Evans stepped up to kick the first successful penalty of the game before, from the restart, Marchant intercepted a Lamb pass to run 70 metres to score.
That try sealed the game for Quins, who introduced Mark Lambert for the prop to record his 200th game for the club before Visser crashed over to finish off the final movement of the match.
