Mike Ruddock’s men struggled to make an impact in the game in torrential rain until three minutes from the end when Samoan international Crichton made his mark.

The fly half produced a moment of magic as he kicked over the top and then raced on to beat opposition full back Mike Brown and collect his chip to the relief of home fans before kicking the conversion.

Ruddock made four changes from the side that narrowly lost to London Irish in the last Guinness Premiership encounter.

New Zealand international lock Greg Rawlinson returned to the starting line-up, after his late withdrawal against the Exiles with an ankle injury, and Thinus Delport was named at full back.

Back row duo Netani Talei and Kai Horstmann were both ruled out through injury and so young flanker Tom Wood returned to the team and Drew Hickey was named at No.8.

Full back Delport smashed a long clearance to get Warriors on the front foot early on as both sides look to make an early impact to take control of the fixture.

Garvey looked to make yards down the left before being bundled into touch before Rico Gear got his hands on the ball for the first time to a huge cheer from the home faithful.

Forwards took the ball on with real desire for Worcester before Drahm looked to spring the backs with Garvey and a roaming Gear again combining down the left side.

Warriors were dominating the early possession but poor handling gave Quins an attacking platform deep in Worcester territory. The forwards slammed the door shut on several occasions until Wood stole the ball and flew forward only for the ball to again be turned over when Drahm failed to hold onto a floated pass from Matt Powell.

Wing Ugo Monye, who scored against Warriors earlier in the season, looked to break down the left only to be dragged back by Gear and Delport.

Worcester were now firmly on the back foot with Garvey forced to frantically race back to mop up a Malone grubber before the winger limped off and was replaced by Miles Benjamin.

Worcester were hit for not rolling away and Quins kicked for the corner as they looked to make the first breakthrough of the afternoon. Skipper Pat Sanderson crunched Monye to send him flying back but the relief was only shortlived as slick hands out wide saw back row Chris Robshaw slide over. Malone missed the conversion but the visitors still took a 5-0 lead.

Malone’s trusty boot was keeping Warriors at arm’s length for long periods of the first half and when they broke they did so with devastating impact. The forwards took the ball on before Easter broke off the back of a rolling maul and fed hooker Gary Botha who dived in the right corner. Malone again saw his kick slide wide but the visitors extended the lead to a painful 10-0 for home fans.

Worcester looked to hit back with an attack down the right but the final pass to Benjamin went behind him and the chance went. Drahm kicked for the corner to set up another attacking platform after Quins were penalised by referee Wayne Barnes. The forwards turned on the power to push Quins backwards and kept the ball tight for several minutes before the ball was again lost and cleared by Malone to the disappointment of a huge home crowd who sensed a way back into the game.

Quins hit back with a spell of possession and made it count when Warriors failed to roll away and up stepped Malone to try and rub salt in the wound of the first half with a penalty three minutes before the break. But the fly half made a mess of his kick in the wind as he dragged it wide left to the relief of home supporters as their side trailed 10-0 at the interval.

Warriors started the second half on the front foot with Benjamin close to taking a booming high kick from Delport before Darren Morris entered the battle to replace Matt Mullan.

Warriors were struggling to get any continuity going with the greasy ball as Gear knocked on after space was made down the right and then Rawlinson spilled a lineout as Worcester looked to force a way back into the encounter.

Quins were being held back in their own half but were shutting Warriors out, with the home side making more changes to try and manufacture an opening with Gavin Quinnell and Chris Fortey coming on.

The weather went from bad to worse as rain lashed Sixways at the midway point of the half as Worcester continued to battle in vain for a lifeline.

Delport launched a counterattack after taking a high ball and Rasmussen found Gear out wide only for the cover to take him into touch.
Worcester’s poor form was summed up when Drahm sliced his kick dead when going for a lineout deep in the Quins half before the visitors again attacked from deep to deny Warriors a platform.

Ruddock changed his half back pairing with Jonny Arr and Loki Crichton introduced with 12 minutes left on the clock as Worcester’s desperately searched for a way back from the dead.

But three minutes from time there was finally some salvation as Crichton picked up, after a quick tap penalty from Arr, and chipped over the top before collecting the ball ahead of Mike Brown. Crichton added the conversion to cut the lead to 10-7 before referee Barnes signalled the end of the game as Warriors had to be content with a losing bonus point.

Timeline:
18m Robshaw t 0-5
23m Botha t 0-10
77m Crichton t Crichton c 7-10

Warriors: 01 Matt Mullan (Morris 44), 02 Aleki Lutui (Fortey 55), 03 Tevita Taumoepeau, 04 Greg Rawlinson, 05 Craig Gillies (Bowley 71), 06 Tom Wood, 07 Pat Sanderson, 08 Drew Hickey (Quinnell 55), 09 Matt Powell (Arr 67), 10 Shane Drahm (Crichton 67), 11 Marcel Garvey (Benjamin 15), 12 Sam Tuitupou, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 14 Rico Gear, 15 Thinus Delport

Replacements: 16 Darren Morris, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Will Bowley, 19 Drew Hickey, 20 Jonny Arr, 21 Loki Crichton, 22 Miles Benjamin