Bristol Bears edge Worcester Warriors
MATCH REPORT: Bristol Bears jumped into the top four at the half-way stage of the Premiership Rugby season after recording a 13-10 win over a resilient Worcester Warriors side at Ashton Gate.
Callum Sheedy kicked eight points and Luke Morahan crossed in the first half, proving enough to best Nick David's converted try and a Scott van Breda penalty, leaving Worcester down in 11th.
The Bears were three points to the good when Sheedy split the sticks with a penalty 21 minutes in.
And he was soon called into action again, adding the extras after Morahan was sent over from Harry Randall's tap-and-go.
The Warriors were right back in the mix early in the second 40 as David gathered a van Breda offload before crossing the whitewash.
And van Breda levelled things from the tee as the game entered its final 10 minutes, but Sheedy quickly responded with three points of his own.
He missed another from range as the game shaped up for a nervy finish, but the Bears did just enough to hold firm.
The scorers:
For Bristol Bears:
Try: Morahan
Con: Sheedy
Pen: Sheedy 2
For Worcester Warriors:
Try: David
Con: Weir
Pen: Van Breda
Yellow cards: Cornell du Preez (Worcester Warriors, 56), Andrew Kitchener (Worcester Warriors, 68)
Teams:
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Callum Sheedy , 9 Harry Randall, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Chris Vui, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Lewis Thiede, 2 Will Capon, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Shaun Malton, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 John Afoa, 19 Luke Hamilton, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Alapati Leiua
Worcester Warriors: 15 Jamie Shillcock, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Nick David, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Marco Mama, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Matt Moulds (captain), 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Kai Owen, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Andrew Kitchener, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Scott van Breda
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant Referees: Simon Harding & Peter Allan.
TMO: Stuart Terheege.