Aviva Premiership

Worcester 25 Gloucester 15

GLOUCESTER blew their chance to leap into the Aviva Premiership top three again as they lost their M5 derby with Worcester at Sixways.

And it was the defence of strugglers Worcester, who have now recorded back-to-back league victories, which won the day for them.

Gloucester may have an unbeaten Premiership fortress at their Kingsholm sanctuary but, away from home, they have struggled for league points and it looked like a sixth defeat on the road out of eight games during the first-half when Worcester took control.

Home scrum-half Jonny Arr ran through a tiny gap as Gloucester tried to defend a ruck and found a way to the Cherry and Whites line, for full-back Chris Pennell to convert.

Centre Billy Twelvetrees reduced the deficit a few minutes later, but Gloucester were always on the back foot for the opening period.

A run down the right from Pennell and home wing Bryce Heem led to an attacking ruck from which Arr picked up and fed fly-half Jamie Shillcock to go over unopposed.

Pennell banged over a long conversion, and suddenly, after 13 minutes, Gloucester found themselves 11 points in arrears.

The cracking pace of the match continued two minutes later as a huge mistake from Worcester near their own ten metre line lead centre Matt Scott to kick the ball on.

It looked likely that home number eight GJ Van Velze would cover the kick easily in front of his posts but he made a hash of the defensive situation to let in Scott who grabbed the try near the uprights, with fly-half Billy Burns booting a quick drop goal conversion as Gloucester looked to upset the home rhythm.

However, it did not work as Worcester went chasing a first-half bonus point in record time when they pressurised the Cherry and Whites inside the 22 for centre Ryan Mills to throw a huge pass to the left wing for Wales international flyer Josh Adams to seize and cross in the corner.

To their credit, Gloucester did not capitulate and managed to hold off the pressure but went in 12 points adrift when they were penalised in front of their posts for Pennell to add the penalty.

But Gloucester found something after the break and managed to reduce the deficit when the ball was moved left for Burns to dive towards the left touchdown. When he found his path blocked, he fed it to wing Henry Trinder to scamper over for his third try in two games, after a try double in the home victory over Leicester the previous weekend.

Twelvetrees converted from five metres out from touch and it was game on again.

An incredible tackle by former England centre Twelvetrees on opposition number Jackson Willison denied Worcester a try a metre from the line, and, when the ball went wide on the left, Mills dropped a pass with the line gaping.

But the home side managed to give the opposition a mountain to climb with 14 minutes left when an infringement saw Pennell hammer over a forty metre penalty and give his team a ten-point buffer.

Gloucester, though, shot themselves in the foot. Worcester had their number at the line-outs and won possession on the Gloucester throw to clear danger, and the home defence was so solid that every metre gained by the Cherry and Whites was an effort to achieve.

And, as the clocked ticked down, Worcester cleared any last danger.

A crumb of comfort was that Gloucester did not concede a fourth try for a home bonus point but it was a very small piece of positiveness as the Cherry and Whites crashed to a sixth defeat in 14 Premiership clashes and without a losing bonus point to show for it either.