Worcester fight back to down 11-man Bath in injury time
BATH ended a sensational match with 11 men as Worcester overturned a 19-3 halftime deficit to secure victory in the 19th minute of overtime.
Worcester had reduced Bath’s lead to eight points before Ross Batty was dismissed for a neck roll on Sam Lewis 15 minutes from the end of normal time.
That preceded a furious finish as Duncan Weir’s penalty brought Warriors within five points before the home side piled on the pressure and an incredible sequence of 12 reset scrums produced yellow cards for Max Lahiff, Lucas Noguera and Aled Brew.
After failing to win a penalty try, Worcester went wide and Ryan Mills sent in Bryce Heem for a score that Weir converted to send Sixways ballistic
Weir said: “I missed a simple one from the same position against Northampton last time but I was still confident and this is a massive victory for us.”
A Worcester win looked unlikely after a first half that Bath dominated.
Strong carrying from Ben Te’o and GJ Van Velze set an encouraging tone for Worcester.
But Freddie Burns slotted Bath ahead after Warriors failed to roll away – then added a second penalty after disciplined kicking from the fly-half pinned Worcester back.
Te’o charged again as Warriors sought a riposte but they were reduced to 14 men when Michael Fatialofa was sin-binned for a no-arms charge on Tom Ellis.
Burns bagged an easy three points but the visitors failed to capitalise further and Worcester replied through Weir’s penalty after a high shot from Cooper Vuna.
Fatialofa returned with Warriors still six points down but Josh Bayliss immediately stole a home lineout and, after James Wilson had miraculously been held up by Francois Hougaard from Vuna’s pass, Bath pressured from the scrum and Zach Mercer finished.
Burns converted and then added a penalty as Worcester discipline crumbled.
Bath led comfortably at the break – due reward for 60 per cent possession and territory domination – but Worcester emerged with vigour and, after a lineout steel from Van Velze, Weir reduced the arrears after Francois Louw’s high tackle on Heem.
Marco Mama’s introduc- tion injected much needed urgency into Worcester’s attack before Van Velze, Fatialofa and Jack Singleton went on the charge. Pressure was rewarded when Venter broke clear down the left and he released Heem for a blistering try.
Perry Humphreys soared above Semesa Rokoduguni to put Warriors back on attack before play was called back and Batty saw red for his assault on Lewis.
Fifteen to go, Worcester went for broke and Weir nailed a three-pointer after Bath went offside, before Warriors forced a scrum penalty. Mama and Te’o charged before Worcester twice went wide, but Rokoduguni and Brew were equal to the task.
There was no respite for Bath. Worcester launched wave after wave of attacks, eventually forcing a closerange scrum in front of the posts two minutes from time. Cue 20 minutes of high-octane madness.