Warriors fell to a narrow defeat in their pre-season encounter with Jersey Reds despite a late comeback at St Peter.
Cooper Vuna gave the visitors a first-half lead but a Joe Buckle try with eight points from the boot of Jack Cuthbert saw Jersey lead 13-5 at the break.
Lewis Robling and Kieran Hardy added scores for Jersey after the interval as they looked set for the win but Warriors weren’t finished just yet.
Vuna strolled in for his second before some super footwork saw Andy Short race in under the sticks with Ryan Lamb converting.
With five minutes to play and just six points in it, a tense finish ensued but it was the hosts who held on for victory on a blustery day at St Peter.
Warriors had to play against the wind in the opening period which made conditions for kicking very difficult.
Jersey, with the advantage, saw kicks taking them deep into the Worcester 22 but the Warriors pack held firm time and time again despite the pressure being applied from the long place-kicking in the wind.
The wind advantage was confirmed by Jersey’s decision to kick for goal on the 20-minute mark from behind the halfway line, as Cuthbert eyed the posts.
Despite the wind taking the ball beyond the stands, it wasn’t on target and so it remained scoreless.
Warriors then enjoyed a good spell of possession, finally making their way to the corner after a series of penalties against the wind and were rewarded for their endeavour just after the half-hour mark.
Alafoti Faosiliva and Ben Te’o made big charges as Warriors went through the phases before whipping it out to Vuna who gassed his way down the left flank to score.
Heathcote couldn’t quite add the extras with the assistance of Howard holding the ball down as it sailed just wide of the posts in the heavy winds.
But Jersey responded immediately and Cuthbert soon added two penalties in quick succession to give them the lead.
And just before the break, another long kick had Warriors in trouble in the corner and from the resulting lineout Buckle crashed over for the hosts’ first try and Cuthbert chipped over the conversion.
It looked like that would be the last action of the half but Warriors looked to attack – and were almost caught out when Regan King intercepted and spotted the tryline, only for Te’o to rip him down and deny a certain score.
Warriors survived the brief scare but should have got their second try before the break as Jackson Willison found space but the Kiwi couldn’t find Howard outside him when drawing the defender as the ball went out of play to end the half.
Jersey came out fighting in the second period and bagged their second try with replacement Robling racing down the right to touch down.
The hosts did superbly to thwart Warriors and went on to notch their third try when scrum-half Hardy rolled his way over to set up a 13-point advantage with quarter of an hour to play.
Warriors rung the replacements to try and find a way back into the contest and found just that after a sweeping move saw Vuna run in for his second out wide ten minutes before the end.
And a couple of minutes later, some more fine work from the backs saw them switch it wide to Short who danced inside his man to touch down beneath the posts.
Ryan Lamb converted to set up a pulsating finale but it was Jersey's day as they held on for the narrow win.
Warriors are next in action at Munster Rugby on Friday night in their final pre-season encounter before the new campaign, while a Development XV take on RGC 1404 at Sixways on Wednesday evening.
Timeline
31m | Vuna try 0-5
32m | Cuthbert pen 3-5
38m | Cuthbert pen 6-5
39m | Buckle try 11-5
40m | Cuthbert con 13-5
50m | Robling try 18-5
63m | Hardy try 23-5
71m | Vuna try 23-10
74m | Short try 23-15
75m | Lamb con 23-17
Warriors | 15 Ben Howard (Humphreys 40), 14 Andy Short, 13 Ben Te’o (Olivier 65), 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote (Lamb 57), 9 Jonny Arr (Baldwin 51); 1 Na’ama Leleimalefaga (Bower 65), 2 Jaba Bregvadze (Annett 53), 3 James Johnston (Daniels 65), 4 Tevita Cavubati (O’Callaghan 57), 5 Christian Scotland-Williamson (Barry 51), 6 Phil Dowson (C), 7 Carl Kirwan, 8 Alafoti Faosiliva (Van Velze 53)
Replacements | 16 Niall Annett, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Mike Daniels, 19 Donncha O’Callaghan, 20 GJ van Velze, 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Wynand Olivier, 24 Darren Barry, 25 Perry Humphreys