Warriors Apprentices topped off a busy week as they battled back again to overpower a strong Oaklands College – Saracens Apprentices – with a 25-12 victory.
After their cup exploits versus King’s, many of the players were rested for this AASE League fixture and five starters were on the bench. This gave starts to many Under 19 players who, as always, proved their worth to Worcester.
After an even start it was Worcester who struck first with a well taken penalty from Ryan before they fell behind to a well judged kick through to leave themselves trailing 5-3. The majority of the play took place between the two ten metre lines for the rest of the half as the game started to get fiery due to a keenly contested breakdown area in which Tom Hardwicke was immense.
The early exchanges of the second half were dominated by Worcester and from a good drive Shaun Hooper crashed over to give Worcester the lead. This was expertly converted from the touchline by Ryan. This score was then extended when Andy Short spotted an outside break and had too much pace for the covering defenders for a 15-5 lead.
Worcester, with the momentum now firmly in their favour, added another score by Ryan after some good approach play from flying winger Dacres. Oakland’s showed tremendous spirit with a score to make the final minutes nerve jangling. But any nerves were eased when Ryan slotted a penalty to take his personal tally to 15 points and earn Worcester victory.
Matt Sherratt said: “Following a tough game against King’s and then to play against a physical side that won convincingly here last season and perform as we did shows great substance from this squad of players.
“That level of effort and honesty is now the benchmark for this squad. It is the foundation of our game and when add some very good play you end up with an encouraging mixture.”