Goode inspires Warriors

Andy Goode: His introduction changed the game

Worcester made it back-to-back Aviva Premierships wins with a gritty 21-15 victory over Gloucester at Sixways.

Warriors went into half-time trailing 10-3 after a Charlie Sharples try, but the introduction of Andy Goode proved the difference as the former England stand-off turned the game in the favour of the hosts.

Goode scored a try early in the second-half to put his side ahead before Marcel Garvey ran from his own 22 to cross unopposed to essentially seal the win.

Replacement Jonny May nipped in near the end to earn Gloucester a bonus-point but it was a disappointing return for a side that was out-played and out-fought over the 80 minutes.

Warriors closed on the Gloucester line as early as the seventh minute following good possession, but when the ball wasn't spun wide with Garvey waiting they were penalised in the ruck and the danger was averted.

Freddie Burns put the first points on the board for Gloucester after James Percival came in from the side, but the scores were level in the 15th minute when Joe Carlisle converted after the visitors were penalised for not rolling away.

Dropped

Carlisle put Miles Benjamin away on a good run but once again the support was not there and the move petered out. From the following scrum Carlisle dropped the ball allowing Gloucester to come away with the ball and camp out inside the home 22.

The ball was eventually spun wide to Sharples, who scrambled home in the right-hand corner after evading two tacklers before surviving the prying eyes of the video referee.

Burns nailed the conversion from the touchline to give the visitors a 10-3 cushion.

Another good Worcester move broke down when scrum-half Johnny Arr dropped the ball on the way through, after Chris Pennell had made good ground after a Gloucester clearance was poorly chased.

But when Gloucester stood up in the resulting scrum Carlisle made no mistake from the penalty to make it 10-6 after a scrappy first-half.

Pressure

Again it was Worcester who made the early running in the second-half, Garvey sidestepping tacklers to take his side inside the 22, and when the penalty was awarded Goode - on for Carlisle - hit the right-hand upright.

The ball bounced back into Worcester hands and they were able to keep the pressure on, and from a scrum the ball was spun out to Goode who stepped through the defence to go over between the posts.

With the conversion, Warriors had scored 10 points without reply, although Gloucester came close when Benjamin was forced to cover with two men bearing down on him close to the corner.

Gloucester full-back Olly Morgan was carried off before Goode extended the lead to six points after Arr was taken out by a high challenge from Akapusi Qera, and Worcester were very much in the ascendancy.

However, Gloucester's pace always posed some sort of threat and replacement May gave them some impetus with a burst down the left, but the move was snuffed out when Garvey picked up Harry Trinder's attempted chip and run and sprinted to the line for his 32nd Premiership try.

Goode was unable to convert but at 21-10 Gloucester had a mountain to climb with 15 minutes left on the clock.

They escaped when Goode missed again from nearly 40m out and from there on it was pressure all the way, Gloucester finally adding to their score when May crossed in the left corner.

That sealed the losing bonus point but that was all they would come away with as Warriors bravely held on for a deserved win, one that sees them move 13 points clear of bottom-placed Newcastle.