Coach Andrew Stanley praised the ‘proud’ performance of Worcester Warriors as they were just edged out 23-22 by Gloucester in a thrilling local derby at Sixways Stadium.
Chris Pennell, Alex Grove and Joe Carlisle grabbed the tries before a late drop goal effort from Willie Walker struck the post and went the wrong side as Warriors were denied a dream ending in the Guinness Premiership.
“This was potentially a very difficult week for us coming off the back of the Leeds game and the fallout from that,” said Stanley.
“We challenged the boys to really show some character and fight for themselves rather than sit down and take it.
“I felt the performance today was fantastic in that respect, it was a performance to be proud of in terms of their effort and commitment.
“I guess it summed our season up a little bit, but it wasn’t just the drop goal hitting the post, a few other things summed up our year.
“A few structural errors that we needed to get right today but we didn’t and we were punished by Gloucester.”
Stanley also praised the display of youngster Louis Silver who was given his full league debut after the withdrawal of Jonny Arr.
He said:“Jonny Arr pulled out in the morning with a hamstring, but full credit to Louis Silver because for a debut performance I thought he was outstanding.
“He wasn’t flustered at all and was bossing the forwards towards the end, that has been a real positive for us and he has come out of the Academy system.
“When he came on against Leeds he was the 33rd boy to come out of the Academy and then go on to represent the first team – we couldn’t have asked any more from him today.
“James Collins also showed today glimpses of his potential and what he can do, I was very pleased with him.
“We now look at player reviews and we plan for pre-season,” added Stanley.
“We need a good pre-season for what potentially could be a very long Championship season. We must be fully prepared.
“A club of this magnitude, and you can see that from the support and the display we can put together when we get things right. We will bounce back up.”