Warriors suffer first home defeat of season

Worcester Warriors fell to a first home defeat of the season after a narrow 27-26 loss to Chinnor at Sixways.

The Warriors went in ahead at half-time, but two second-half scores from the visitors secured the victory.

Worcester made the perfect start, taking the lead after just 13 seconds as Khalik Kareem reacted quickest to a tap-back from the kick-off before beating two defenders to score.

Chinnor responded swiftly, hooker Alun Walker finding the line from the back of a powerful maul, before the visitors moved ahead soon after when flanker Harry Dugmore burrowed over from close range.

The Warriors hit back to reclaim the lead as Jake Garside finished off a superb move, collecting Will Trewin’s perfectly weighted chip after the full-back linked brilliantly with Juan Gonzalez to break clear from inside the Worcester 22.

Chinnor were reduced to 14 when Dugmore was shown a yellow card for a tackle in the air, and Worcester made the extra man count when Bath loanee Will Jeanes powered over following sustained forward pressure to extend the home side’s advantage.

Before the interval, Chinnor closed the gap with flanker Will Cave reacting quickest to a bobbling ball at the back of the ruck, forcing his way over to keep the contest finely balanced at the break.

The second half began at a frenetic pace, with Chinnor crossing just 50 seconds after the restart as Sam Hanks finished out wide following slick handling across the backline.

Worcester responded once more, regaining the lead again when Garside grabbed his second of the afternoon, picking a strong line off an attacking Worcester line-out.

With 30 minutes remaining, Chinnor struck what proved to be the decisive blow, Walker again crossing from a driving maul to the delight of the visiting pack.

Roared on by a sold-out Sixways crowd, Worcester pushed hard to preserve their home record, but it was Chinnor who nearly extended their lead, only for a superb last-ditch tackle from Will Trewin to deny Kieran Goss in the corner.

Worcester continued to press, creating several near breaks, but were frustrated by outstanding Chinnor defence and passes not quite hitting attacking hands.

In the closing moments, the Warriors held possession and searched for a winning score, but referee Harry Walbaum brought proceedings to a close after spotting a forward pass, leaving the Warriors with just the two losing bonus points.

Warriors 26

T – Khalik Kareem 1’, Jake Garside 25’, 46’, Will Jeanes 33’

C – Will Reed 1’, 33’, 46’

Chinnor 27

T – Alun Walker 13’, 51’, Harry Dugmore 19’, Will Cave 39’, Sam Hanks 41’,

C – Nathan Chamberlain 39’

YC – Harry Dugmore 27’

Warriors Team

15 Will Trewin, 14 Jake Garside (Tiff Eden 67’), 13 Tom Seabrook, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (James Short 60’), 11 Juan Gonzalez, 10 Will Reed, 9 Lloyd Williams ©; 1 Cam Miell (Billy Keast 46’), 2 Austin Wallis (Jasper Spandler 46’), 3 Ashley Challenger (Tim Hoyt 46’), 4 Obinna Nkwocha, 5 Will Jeanes (Matt Kvesic 67’), 6 Tim Anstee, 7 Tom Cowan (Thabo Ndimande 70’), 8 Khalik Kareem

Unused: 21 Will Lane

Chinnor Team

15 Nick Smith, 14 Toby Cousins, 13 Sam Hanks, 12 James Bourton (Thomas Watson 50’), 11 Kieran Goss (Luke Thompson 71’), 10 Nathan Chamberlain, 9 Luke Carter © (Callum Pascoe 55’); 1 Kai Owen (Ramaz Rukhadze 50’), 2 Alun Walker, 3 Robin Hardwick, 4 Jamie Campbell, 5 Conor Brockschmidt (Cameron Rafferty 50’), 6 Harry Dugmore (Chris Moore 67’), 7 Will Cave (George Stokes 62’), 8 Scott Hall

Unused: 18 Lawson Porter

With thanks to our Match and Match Ball Sponsors, TDB Electrical, who selected Khalik Kareem as their Player of the Match.