Sarries hold off Warriors
Saracens moved level with third-placed Bath in the Guinness Premiership table after they overcame a gutsy Worcester display 19-6.
Last Updated: 10/02/08 4:53pm
Saracens moved level with third-placed Bath in the Guinness Premiership table after they overcame a gutsy Worcester display 19-6.
Having beaten Bath in their last outing, Sarries joined the West Country outfit on 36 points with a scrappy victory at Vicarage Road.
The match was still very much in the balance until Fabio Ongaro's 52nd-minute try tipped the result into the home side's favour.
Glen Jackson supplied 14 points from the boot - although the reigning Premiership player of the year did miss four shots at goal - while Worcester relied on Loki Crichton for their points.
Both sides also had players sin-binned in the encounter, with Rodd Penney and Pat Sanderson given 10-minute spells on the sidelines.
Crichton had got the struggling Warriors off to the perfect start when he slotted over a drop-goal.
Levelled
However, having missed on earlier effort Jackson levelled matters with a 10th-minute penalty.
The Sarries missed another effort on 20 minutes, before the home side were reduced to 14-men after Penney was yellow-carded.
Despite the deficit, it was Saracens who were next to score, with Jackson edging his side ahead with a penalty.
Having held the high-flyers to 6-3 at the break, the Warriors looked to snatch something from the game - only for their hopes to be dented by the 10-minute departure of Sanderson.
Jackson slotted over the resulting penalty, only for Crichton to respond immediately with a kick of his own.
However, Sarries got the decisive breakthrough on 52 minutes when hooker Ongaro crashed over and Jackson converted.
A fourth penalty from Jackson put Sarries 13 points clear and the result beyond Worcester - and really the New Zealand-born ace could have extended the lead only for another missed shot at goal.
