The visitors were on the scoreboard first as new signing Netani Talei, Fiji's World Cup number eight, grabbed a stunning debut try and Aleki Lutui also crossed as Warriors took a half-time lead.

However, Warriors seemed set for another painful reverse as the game enerted the final ten minutes before England ace Sanderson peeled off the back of a power packed forward drive to dive over from close range for the key score.

“We’re pleased to get that first win and get out of that losing spell,” said Ruddock. “I've been in this situation before - but not one as long as this.

“We let ourselves down really badly (against Ospreys) last week but hopefully, on the back of this win, we can keep building.

“We’re certainly not out of the woods yet but that is hopefully that is the first signs of encouragement that we are starting to put something together. Hopefully we have now set the benchmark for what is acceptable.”

Fired up Warriors kicked off the game and enjoyed some good early dominance in the scrum as both sides traded kicks for early possession with scrum half Matt Powell, in for broken foot victim Ryan Powell, cleverly pinning the hosts back.

Fijian star Talei soon got his hands on the ball in the early stages to produce some thumping tackles and fellow back row call-up Tom Wood also impressed with a strong hit to take England international winger David Strettle into touch as he looked to run around the outside.

Warriors were repeatedly kicking long to home full back Mike Brown and enjoying some early territorial advantage before breaking the deadlock in devastating style on 11 minutes.

Worcester won the ball back thanks to a huge tackle from a drop out by lock Phil Murphy and when hooker Lutui made yards in midfield the early ball freed men out wide right. Talei got his hands on the ball after a neat inside pass from Dale Rasmussen and tore through a gap to dive over the whitewash for a dream debut try. James Brown just pushed his kick left of the uprights but Warriors still had a 5-0 lead.

Harlequins threatened an immediate response when the ball squirted out of a tackle and Strettle hacked forward towards the line only to be hauled back by referee Chris White for a knock on.

Loki Crichton, in his preferred full back role, was finding some thumping touch clearances but it was the home side who roared back to take the lead on 16 minutes. Back row Chris Hala’ufia took advantage of a half first up tackle and fed inside to Will Skinner who raced clear. He tore towards the Worcester last man before flipping inside to wing Ugo Monye who scorched over and levelled the scores. Chris Malone soon added the extras for a 7-5 lead.

Fly half Malone extended the lead five minutes later when Garvey was adjudged to have held on, after a long boot clearance down the middle when Warriors were guilty of turning over ball in midfield.

Warriors responded with Crichton showing his versatility from full back with some clever darting runs before centre Mark Tucker was taken horribly high in the tackle by Hala’ufia on 27 minutes and referee White had little choice but to send him to the sin bin. Brown stepped up to slot the penalty and cut the lead to two points.

The visitors were now dominating the set piece and scrum with prop Darren Morris enjoying a storming first half. A home scrum was wheeled around 90 degrees to hand the ball back to the visitors before Brown boomed another long kick downfield.

A period of sustained pressure was rewarded when a penalty was given when Quins strayed offside and Crichton chipped into the corner to set up a perfect attacking platform. The resulting catch and drive saw the forwards rumble forward with Lutui touching down to the delight of the travelling army. The conversion was added the Crichton.

Pat Sanderson was taken off with a nasty looking blood injury, with Gavin Quinnell thrust into the action, as Talei thundered forward again from the kick off with another impressive ball carry up to the halfway line.
Back came the hosts as from a catch and drive of their own they switched the play down the short side and scrum half Danny Care fed outside man Monye who darted over to level the scores. Malone slotted a difficult conversion for a 17-15 lead.

However, it was Warriors who were to have the last word of the first half as a penalty from the restart saw Crichton give the visitors a slender one-point lead at the interval.

Warriors were soon back on the attack after the restart with Brown crunching the ball into the corner only for the home side to steal ball back at the lineout.

Worcester were attacking at pace and slamming the door shut on any home attack in the opening stages of the second period despite Quins enjoying a sustained spell in the Warriors half.

Rasmussen mounted a counter attack with a cutting line from deep that arrowed him through the defence and when the ball was spun right it looked as if extra numbers could count, only for referee White to pull back play for a very harsh forward pass.

Minutes later Quins back row Skinner was hit for holding on after superb work at the breakdown but, critically, Crichton’s kick failed to find touch and the hosts cleared. Seconds later the visitors lost the ball and things went from bad to worse when Garvey was sinbinned for deliberately slowing down play as he knocked the ball down.

The home side made the numerical advantage count within 60 seconds as full back Brown slid over out wide after a powerful forward heave from the hosts.

Ruddock rang the changes as Tucker and Murphy were replaced by Chris Pennell and Will Bowley just before the hour mark before Chris Fortey took the spot of Aleki Lutui.

But it was Quins who suddenly looked the stronger as Brown threatened to add another try when he collected his own kick over the top but Warriors mopped up to clear the danger. Hal Luscombe then chipped over only to be stopped by Matt Powell’s frantic booted clearance before Pennell just did enough to stop Monye completing his hat-trick after a huge cross field kick.

Garvey returned to crucially give Warriors a full compliment of players before Tony Windo entered the fray for Morris to give them fresh legs up front and Miles Benjamin took the spot of Delport with under ten minutes left in an absorbing clash.

Worcester sensed this was the chance to strike and turned the screw with Powell’s kick to the corner before the lineout was cleanly won by Craig Gillies. With the line in sight the forwards stepped up a gear to rumble close before Sanderson intelligently peeled off the back of the rolling maul to score just left of the posts to the delight of his team-mates. Crichton stepped up but pulled his kick left of the uprights as the lead remained one-point.

Warriors were now within touching distance of a first win of the season as the clock ticked down and were intelligently keeping the ball tight as the last minute arrived.

With 20 seconds left the visitors were in total control until the ball was turned over and Quins mounted one last ferocious attack. They repeatedly ran from deep with Monye inches from a line break as Warriors threw bodies in the way before the penalty was awarded to the visitors at the break down.

With time up Crichton duly smashed the penalty high into touch to signal the final whistle and celebrations as Warriors season finally recorded a deserved first win.

Timeline:
11m Talei t 0-5
16m Monye t Malone c 7-5
21m Malone p 10-5
28m Brown p 10-8
35m Lutui t Crichton c 10-15
38m Monye t Malone c 17-15
40m Crichton p 17-18
57m Brown t 22-18
72m Sanderson t 22-23

Warriors: 01 Darren Morris (Windo 68), 02 Aleki Lutui (Fortey), 03 Tevita Taumoepeau, 04 Phil Murphy (Bowley 58), 05 Craig Gillies, 06 Tom Wood, 07 Pat Sanderson (Quinnell 36-40 blood), 08 Netani Talei, 09 Matt Powell, 10 James Brown, 11 Marcel Garvey (Pennell 59), 12 Mark Tucker, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 14 Thinus Delport (Benjamin 69), 15 Loki Crichton

Replacements: 16 Tony Windo, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Will Bowley, 19 Gavin Quinnell, 20 Nick Runciman, 21 Chris Pennell, 22 Miles Benjamin