Worcester Warriors were forced to leave Welford Road empty handed despite a brave display as they continued to hunt for an elusive first win of the Guinness Premiership season.
Mike Ruddock’s men produced an impressive display against the Tigers and went toe-to-toe with the hosts in an enthralling battle.
Dale Rasmussen and Drew Hickey both grabbed tries as Worcester gave Tigers a huge battle.
But a killer try by Ollie Smith just before the break proved costly as he pounced on a cruel bounce and indecision by Warriors back line to run half the length of the pitch to score.
Warriors produced a late rally as they pushed for a bonus point but there was no late reward for the players for their endeavour as they were defeated 28-20.
“Promising moments and promising starts, but we conceded soft tries,” said Ruddock.
“We played some good rugby but it was always catch up, we conceded tries by our own mistakes.
“We’re disappointed that the game went to uncontested scrums because that was an area we wanted to target.
“It was a game we could have won and we were the more creative side, but again some silly errors meant we were chasing it.”
Leicester were straight into their stride as a messy opening by Warriors saw them penalised for offside after less than a minute. Fly half Paul Burke made no mistake with a routine penalty to hand the home side the immediate advantage.
Warriors mounted a first real attack with wing Marcel Garvey opening his legs and blazing down the left flank only for the ball to be turned over in contact and then cleared to touch by full back Geordan Murphy.
The visitors were enjoying some early pressure and when Leicester were penalised for coming in the side of a ruck the penalty was awarded just outside the 22 by referee Dave Pearson. Shane Drahm stepped up by the touchline but pulled his difficult kick left of the uprights.
Warriors were playing some real positive rugby to dominate early possession and territory and were deservedly awarded a penalty on nine minutes when Tigers were hit for not rolling away. Drahm this time made no mistake with his simple kick to level the scores after ten minutes.
Burke missed with a long range drop goal but Leicester were still handed back the ball after Worcester were this time adjudged to have infringed. Burke, though, made a bad connection with his penalty as it sailed wide left.
Neither pack was giving an inch in a bruising forward battle and it was left to the backs to try and cut loose as defence ruled in the opening quarter.
Leicester threatened to break away when Benjamin Kayser broke clear and then fed Seru Rabeni who made the hard yards in midfield. The ball was spun wide right and through the hands via Geordan Muprhy before Warriors finally got shape and slammed the door shut.
Centre Ollie Smith was also hauled down by a combination of Garvey and Mark Tucker before Pat Sanderson was penalised by referee Pearson close to the Worcester line for being the wrong side.
Tigers lost prop Boris Stankovich with a shoulder injury and he was replaced by David Young but it made little impact as Tigers went long at the lineout and back row Ben Herring crashed over for the opening try on 21 minutes. Burke added the extras for a 10-3 lead.
Warriors enjoyed another sustained spell of pressure but when Drahm was turned over in contact the ball was lumped downfield all the way to the Worcester line. Wing Thinus Delport was forced into a hurried clearance that failed to find touch and suddenly the home side had a great attacking platform. They surged from deep but a knock on saw the ball back in Worcester hands.
Both teams continued to trade possession with booming kicks to the corner but it was Warriors who struck just before the half hour. Controlled ball suddenly saw Crichton find a gap and make yards down the left. Ryan Powell kept the ball ticking over and Delport also came up close before the ball found Dale Rasmussen who bulldozed over despite the attention of several Tigers. Drahm added the extras to level the game to the delight of the travelling Worcester army.
Tigers attempted to hit back with Drew Hickey dragging Murphy back as he looked to make a yard before solid defence saw the ball turned and Drahm bash it to the halfway line and safety.
Tigers edged ahead five minutes before the break after another penalty from Burke but Worcester were matching them in every department on the field and could feel aggrieved to be behind.
However, seconds later the visitors again suffered cruel lick as Bowley’s flick back from the kick off fell between Powell and Delport. Both players left it for each other and Smith could hardly believe his luck as he picked up the loose ball and run in from the halfway line. Burke added the conversion to give the scoreline a false look to it.
The game went to uncontested scrums just before the break as Tigers again lost men in the front row and Drahm had the chance to cut the lead with the last action of the first half but he again pulled his kick from wide left.
Worcester came flying out of the traps in the second half with Kai Horstmann replacing Tevita Taumoepeau with the game at uncontested scrums. Early promise was rewarded when Drahm cut the deficit to 20-13 just three minutes after the restart.
Tigers looked a little off the pace with Murphy horribly pulling a kick into touch on the full from deep but the lineout was stolen and ball handed back after a kicking exchange.
The home side overcame a shaky second half start and extended the lead on 47 minutes through another Burke penalty.
Worcester replied with pace as Drahm’s clever play from deep released Delport who danced infield before releasing Horstmann who made real ground. The ball was taken on before it was spun left with real pace by Crichton and Tongan hooker Lutui was just held up short by the corner with Delport on his shoulder. Gavin Quinnell was also shunted left as he looked to burrow his way over before the ball was turned over.
Springbok flyer Delport was making some real powerful runs to smash dents in the Tigers defence but Warriors were slowly being forced to play in their own half and run from deep to make any real impact.
Leicester suddenly broke from deep with Ireland international Murphy making the line break and dancing deep into Worcester territory. The home side opted to kick for the corner after winning a penalty and the move paid off as Kayser peeled off the rolling maul and ploughed in the corner.
Ben Gotting replaced Sanderson, with Rasmussen taking on captaincy duties on the hour, and Miles Benjamin was handed his Guinness Premiership debut when he replaced Shane Drahm.
Worcester were putting some long spells of possession together and struck for a second time in the game with 12 minutes left. High tempo was the ball spun left and right before Delport pressed the gas and barged up to the line before Hickey dived over. Crichton added the conversion.
The try sparked a late comeback as Warriors pushed for a bonus point but Crichton pulled a drop goal wide with a minute to go.