THERE may be a renewed vigour about Worcester Warriors in recent weeks, but it was the same old story on Saturday as they suffered a 32-20 defeat at Bath
Tries from Josh Drauniniu, Andy Symons and Chris Pennell gave relegation-threatened Warriors a glimmer of hope of pulling off a shock victory at the Rec
But not for the first time this season it was their kicking which let them down as Pennell and Ryan Lamb failed to convert a combined total of 13 points before Matt Banahan struck the decisive blow late on
The loss coupled with Newcastle’s narrow defeat to Saracens leaves Worcester eight points adrift with just two just games remaining
However, director of rugby Dean Ryan refused to criticise his kickers and instead praised his side’s dogged display
“We’re disappointed we didn’t get something out of it
We had some momentum with us but we couldn’t quite nail it down,” he said
“I feel for the boys because they are working so hard
We’re not a bad side and it’s starting to come together
“We’re actually in a good space because we’ve got a great group
We’ve been under a lot of pressure for months, yet we’ve played some really good stuff under an awful amount of duress
”
And it was Warriors who got off the mark first as Drauniniu broke through two tackles before side-stepping Nick Abendanon to score
However, their failure to add the extras as Lamb went wide at his first attempt ultimately proved the difference in the tie
It also did not take long before Bath hit the ground running and they moved out in front thanks to struck twice in quick succession
A driving lineout saw Micky Young power over before Horacio Agulla raced over following good work from George Ford
The fly half converted both to put the hosts 14-5 ahead with less than half an hour gone
Warriors missed the chance to close the gap as Lamb failed to land a penalty, while their cause was also not helped when Sam Betty saw yellow
And Bath took full advantage as Abendanon slipped through a gap in Worcester’s defence to score just before the break
Pennell was handed the kicking duties after the interval, but the Sixways star failed to stop the rot as he went wide from the tee before Ford added a penalty to move Bath 22-5 in front
However, when the England fly half saw yellow for a high tackle, Warriors quickly gained the upper hand and reduced their arrears with a try from Symons
Pennell added the extras before slotting home a penalty to get within seven points
Gavin Henson got Bath back on the score-board with a penalty
But Warriors refused to go away as Alex Grove found Pennell who eased over to leave the visitors trailing 25-20 with 15 minutes remaining
Suddenly, Worcester’s fans were sensing a surprise win, which would have heaped pressure on rivals Newcastle
But they squandered the chance to level the contest as Pennell failed to convert his try before the full back missed a 73rd minute penalty
And Bath made them pay as Banahan dotted down with two minutes left, which Ford converted to condemn Worcester to a 19th league defeat of the season