Worcester Warriors exited the JP Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s Series at the pool stages after a thrilling night of rugby at Kingsholm.
Game One: Warriors 12 Bath 35
Worcester made a lightening start to the opening game of the night against Bath Rugby with two tries inside the opening two minutes to take early control.
Warriors opened the scoring after just 35 seconds as Josh Drauniniu and Errie Claassens punched holes in the Bath defence with quick handling before the ball was shipped wide to Ben Howard to touch down.
A minute later Claassens grabbed a try of his own as a big hand-off in midfield saw him blast over under the posts for a 12-0 lead.
Bath, however, hit back with two tries to take a narrow lead at the break as Tom Biggs showed his pace down the left wing before Matt Banahan showed neat footwork to chip ahead and gather to score.
The second half saw Bath go further ahead as Biggs grabbed his second of night after collecting a chip down the right before two tries from Richard Lane at the death saw the West Countrymen claim a bonus point win.
Game Two: Gloucester 33 Warriors 24
Worcester threatened a stunning comeback in a local derby with Gloucester a brace from summer signing David Lemi gave the hosts a scare.
The Cherry and Whites raced into a 14-0 lead as Gareth Evans went over after 40 seconds before Freddie Burns danced over.
Worcester hit back as Claassens stepped and left two men for dead on the halfway line before handing off another and racing in under the posts to convert his own score.
Magic from England man Jonny May set up Burns for his second before a bonus point try from Ian Clark on half-time looked to have sown up the game.
Warriors, though, hit back as a huge hit from Josh Matavesi secured a penalty for holding on and Lemi quickly tapped and dived over. Seconds later the Samoa captain was at it again as another penalty saw him grab the ball and burrow over to cut the lead to 26-19.
However, any comeback hopes were extinguished by Henry Trinder’s score before, after Evans was yellows carded for taking out Andy Short in the air from the restart, the Warriors had the final word as a length of the field move saw Drauniniu blaze over for the bonus point.
Game Three: Exeter 26 Warriors 24
Warriors were cruelly denied victory in the final game of the night as a converted try from Mike Pope saw Exeter snatch a 26-24 victory.
A bizarre opening try saw Warriors look to play deep in their own half only for a pass to hit the post and falls for Chiefs for a 7-0 lead.
Warriors hit back as the impressive Howard and Drauniniu combined before the ball was worked back to Abbott to score.
A yellow card to Howard gave Exeter the space to retake the lead as Joel Conlon went over, but man-of-the-night for Worcester, Claassens, scored a sublime try as he stepped inside his own half and raced past men before throwing a dummy to send the last man the wrong way.
The game continued to swing from end to end as slick handling sent Rob Coote over before Warriors again went over as Lemi pulled the strings and prodded for an opening before spinning a long pass to Matavesi to touch down in the corner.
Matavesi then turned provider as he showed sweet footwork and regained his composure after slipping to fire a pass to Howard to score for a 24-19 lead.
But a cruel end saw Exeter try one more attack with time up and it was Mike Pope who found a gap and showed his pace to cruise over with the conversion sneaking the win.