Warriors AASE side Worcester Sixth Form College returned to winning ways on Wednesday as they beat Leicester Tigers’ Brooksby Melton College 22-19 in the AASE League play-offs.
In a tight physical encounter the Worcester side opened the scoring after ten minutes of huge defensive efforts from both teams, as Charlie Gamble intercepted to score and Jake Leonard converted.
Brooksby responded just a few minutes later with a converted try to level the scores but Worcester closed the half out with a well-timed backs move from a scrum that saw Leonard find a gap before offloading to Gamble to score his second.
The conversion was narrowly missed, meaning Worcester led 12-7 at the break.
The second-half kicked off in a similar fashion as the first, with both teams furiously competing in the tackle and breakdown areas.
The Brooksby backs finally made some space through the middle and managed to score, levelling proceedings at 12-12.
Worcester responded after Freddie Spencer produced an excellent kick that bounced into the opposition 22, and after the ball was fumbled by Leicester, George Parker capitalised by picking up the ball and bashing his way to the line. Leonard converted to make the score 19-12.
The Leicester outfit responded once again after a series of carries from their forwards which stretched the Worcester defence and after converting their try, it was all square once again.
The winning score for Worcester started from a scrum in their own 22 which saw Gamble make 40 metres down the touchline before being fed to Tom Furnival who broke the line and took the ball up the opposition 22.
And, in front of the posts, the Leicester players infringed at the breakdown giving Leonard a straightforward kick to take the lead and seal the victory.
Warriors AASE Manager Ryan Watkins said: ‘’It was a great response after a disappointing result last week. Our defensive efforts on our own line were outstanding, keeping them out on several occasions.
“That was definitely the most physical game we’ve had this year and credit must go to the Leicester side as they took us all the way.’’
Worcester’s next game is away to Gosforth Academy (Newcastle Falcons AASE) at Kingston Park on Wednesday 22 November (kick-off 4pm).
A win for Warriors would secure a place at Finals Day.