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Worcester wingers stoke victory fire

Before the start of this encounter Christ Church had recently asserted their position in the top division of the league, but with Worcester having the practise of a recent game under their belts and fielding 2 top level blues players in the back row it was always going to be close.  Promises of the legendary ex-New Zealand captain and prop Anton Oliver turning up for Worcester drew a large crowd, but unfortunately he was unavailable for the game.

The game started with an early spell of pressure from the visitors, who managed to get the first score, after a penalty gave Christ Church territory, and a well oiled backs move saw fly-half Sprague dart around the opposition 10 and beat the covering full back to the line.

Newly confident Christ Church held dominance after this early momentum booster and kept the visitors pinned back. However Worcester managed to turn it around and a sustained period of pressure saw some solid plays that challenged the Christ Church defence. A dart down the left wing and some slick offloading saw the blues number 8 touch-down, and following a superb conversion the score stood at 7-7.  Christ Church again responded, and after some solid forwards drives, Sprague once again carved up number ten for Worcester, and made a long run only to be stopped by the full back.  This led to the awarding of a penalty, which was slotted over by the ever-reliant Gillard, giving them a 10-7 lead at the break.

Immediately after half time, a combination of some poor defence and inspired attack led to a quick Worcester score, sending them into the lead. Hanging their heads, the home side lost composure and the Worcester backs attacked superbly. They eventually scored one try, followed by another, to see the score at 26-10 with ten minutes to go—seemingly out of reach for the frustrated hosts.

The possibility of a late comebackflickered briefley went winger Fifield crashed over.  But Worcester responded strongly, a strong run by winger Toogood leading to possession high up the pitch, and an overlap lead to a forced rush defence that was expertly stepped by the 10 who offloaded for the score.
Christ Church managed a consolation score after a wide pass from a tap penalty, leaving the score at 33-22 to the visitors.  Worcester will take away much from this match after a strong performance, and will look to take the momentum into next week’s match and a chance to progress to the Cuppers semi-finals.

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