Warriors subjected the Aviva Premiership and European champions to only their third league defeat of the season as Director of Rugby Gary Gold led his side to a hard-fought victory in his first home game in charge.
Ryan Mills struck eight penalties – four in either half – as Warriors claimed their third Premiership win of the season to move five points clear of the bottom of the table.
Chris Ashton and Schalk Brits touched down for Saracens but the day belonged to Warriors after a memorable 80 minutes of rugby at Sixways.
Gold made four changes to the side which beat Cardiff Blues as Donncha O’Callaghan was recalled to captain the side, while Ryan Bower, Alafoti Faosiliva and Perry Humphreys all started.
December signing Chris Vui also kept his place as he made his Aviva Premiership debut, while Francois Hougaard made his first league start of the campaign.
Warriors started strongly and Mills was looking to put his side into good areas with a clever kicking game.
The hosts looked assured with ball in hand and they took the lead in the tenth minute as Mills struck a penalty from the 22 metre line.
Warriors kept the pressure on their opponents as they showed real energy and endeavour to dominate the opening 30 minutes.
Saracens had only conceded ten Premiership tries all season and Gold’s side were finding clear-cut chances hard to come by, despite all their possession.
But Mills doubled his side’s advantage with another penalty before Saracens’ Mike Ellery was yellow-carded for a late challenge on Hougaard.
And that allowed Mills to put Warriors 9-0 ahead courtesy of his third penalty of the afternoon.
Saracens finally found their feet in the match as half-time approached and scored the first try of the match as Ashton won the foot-race to ground the ball after a grubber kick through.
But the home side had the final say before the interval as Mills struck his fourth penalty to send Warriors 12-7 ahead at the break.
The pace of the game slowed after the break as Warriors looked to protect their lead. And Mills put another three points on the board with a huge penalty from the Saracens ten-metre line.
Lozowski replied with his first penalty of the afternoon as the match became an edgy affair.
Neither side could gain any meaningful possession on as defences held the upper hand, meaning game management became more and more crucial.
Warriors were continuing to hold their own as they forced the double champions into a series of mistakes.
And when Warriors were presented with two quick-fire penalties midway through the second period, Mills lined up for the posts to put six more points on the board and stretch his side’s lead to 21-10.
Warriors were not happy to sit on their lead and continued to press forward as they searched for their first try of the match.
Saracens repelled Warriors’ efforts for a try but they couldn’t stop Mills adding his eighth penalty of the afternoon with less than ten minutes remaining to put Warriors 24-10 ahead.
Saracens reduced their deficit as Brits touched down after being driven over the line by the forward pack before Spencer added a penalty to claim a losing bonus points for the visitors.
Warriors | 15 Josh Adams, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Perry Humphreys, 10 Ryan Mills, 9 Francois Hougaard, 1 Ryan Bower, 2 Jack Singleton (Bregvadze 57), 3 Nick Schonert (Alo 62), 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (C) (Cavubati 74), 5 Will Spencer, 6 Chris Vui, 7 Sam Lewis (Mama 65), 8 Alafoti Faosiliva
Replacements | 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 James Johnston, 18 Biyi Alo, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Marco Mama, 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Ben Howard
Timeline
10m | Mills pen 3-0
23m | Mills pen 6-0
28m | Mills pen 9-0
36m | Ashton try 9-5
37m | Lozowski con 9-7
39m | Mills pen 12-7
50m | Mills pen 15-7
51m | Lozowski pen 17-10
57m | Mills pen 18-10
60m | Mills pen 21-10
72m | Mills pen 24-10
73m | Brits try 24-15
80m | Spencer pen 24-18