Worcester Cavaliers ended their Aviva A League campaign with a narrow defeat to Northampton Wanderers at Franklin’s Gardens.
Mark Hewitt’s side led 13-3 at the break thanks to a try for Mat Gilbert and three kicks from Ryan Lamb.
But a game of two halves saw Wanderers edge it after three yellow cards for Cavaliers allowed the hosts to push over for two Ben Nutley tries and a penalty for JJ Hanrahan – seeing Northampton into the semi-finals of the competition.
Heavy downpours soaked the pitch before kick-off making conditions difficult for both sides to play any exciting running rugby.
But the Cavaliers dominated the opening exchanges and were rewarded for their efforts when Gilbert dotted down from a driving lineout and Lamb added the extras.
Worcester managed to get good field position, playing most of the first quarter inside their opponents’ half and Lamb was on hand to extend their advantage with three points from the tee.
Northampton’s Tom Collins then found space to race towards the tryline but scrum-half Tom Kessell dropped the ball forward as he was presented with a free run at the whitewash.
But it wasn’t long before Wanderers added their first points of the night when JJ Hanrahan slotted a penalty on the half-hour mark.
Northampton then enjoyed a spell by the Worcester tryline but were turned over and with a pacey backline, Cavaliers sped their way up field with Ben Howard kicking on for Josh Adams.
The Welsh youngster beat the opposition to the ball, punting it to the tryline but despite appearing to have scored, the officials judged that it was knocked forward and the try was disallowed.
Cavaliers continued to look the more threatening and after gaining yet more good field position through Lamb, they won a penalty which the stand-off slotted to complete the half.
Northampton came out after the break chasing a win which would send them to the semi-finals, and they caused problems when Kessell kicked and chased towards the tryline only for Howard to relieve the danger.
But the hosts were at it again and when Dan Sanderson was yellow-carded for a high tackle, skipper Nutley touched down for Wanderers to bring them within five before Hanrahan missed the conversion.
Northampton continued to mount the pressure and a mistimed tackle from Dean Hammond reduced Cavaliers to 13 men as he joined Sanderson in the bin.
And the hosts made it count with another penalty for Hanrahan in front of the posts.
As the rain hammered down, Lamb then found himself in the sin-bin after a deliberate offside.
And Nutley crossed for his second try following another maul to give Northampton the lead for the first time on the night with just eight minutes to go, while Rory Hutchinson’s conversion bounced back off the upright.
Wanderers then touched down twice over the line but both included knock-ons in the build-up to set-up a nerve-jangling finale.
And in the final minutes, both sides conceded penalties and knocked forward as Worcester searched for the win, but Wanderers marched into the semi-finals while Cavaliers will look forward to next year’s campaign.
Worcester Cavaliers: 15 Ben Howard, 14 Dean Hammond (Shillcock 74), 13 Andy Short, 12 Ravai Fatiaki, 11 Perry Humphreys (Adams 6), 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Charlie Mulchrone; 1 Ryan Bower (Appiah 76), 2 Jack Singleton (Sowrey 57), 3 Joe Rees (Bower 80), 4 Dan Sanderson (Hewitt 76), 5 Darren O’Shea, 6 Mat Gilbert, 7 Sam Ripper-Smith, 8 Huw Taylor (C)
Replacements: 16 Ben Sowrey, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 James Page, 19 Tom Dodd, 20 Charlie Hewitt, 21 JB Bruzulier, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Josh Adams
Timeline:
10m: Gilbert try 0-5
11m: Lamb con 0-7
25m: Lamb pen 0-10
30m: Hanrahan pen 3-10
40m: Lamb pen 3-13
53m: Nutley try 8-13
66m: Hanrahan pen 11-13
72m: Nutley try 16-13