London Irish 26 Worcester Warriors 16

Somehow it was written in the stars that Worcester's Great Escape campaign would go down to the final day and probably the final kick of the final play. Things are never simple at the bottom of the Premiership.

The Sixways side went into this match, having watched, or at least being aware of, Northampton fail in their bid to beat London Wasps and in doing so remain rooted to the foot of the table.

A bonus-point victory would have guaranteed Worcester's safety, a win of even the scrappiest type would have virtually done so but instead, after struggling to contain a slick London Irish team, they must repeat their last-day heroics of 2004.

But this time, they are not up against fellow relegation candidates; play-off chasing Saracens are the visitors in a fortnight's time while Northampton welcome the Exiles to Franklin's Gardens. Neither is the sort to lie back and oblige.

The nett result of the afternoon is that Warriors' advantage over Saints has been cut to a single point, though they boast a slightly better points difference. It could prove crucial.

In the end, it was Irish who secured a maximum haul courtesy of two tries from their powerhouse threequarter Seilala Tagicakibau and others from Robbie Russell and Bob Casey.

All Worcester could manufacture was one from Matt Powell and three penalties and a conversion from Shane Drahm, whose flawless goalkicking deserved better.

That said, the passionate onslaught his team needed to make never materialised; in fact, they made a nervy start, nothing like a side playing for their lives.

Richard Blaze took the opening kick-off adroitly, but then spent the next ten minutes getting into referee Sean Davey's bad books with a series of misdemeanours that only served to put his colleagues under pressure.

Although they didn't concede from two early catch-and-drive routines they were reliant on some exceptional last-ditch tackling from their wings as the Exiles picked at their seams.

Lee Best had to scramble to hold on to Topsy Ojo, who must be an awesome sight on the dance floor, then Thinus Delport made two crucial interventions within a few seconds as Ojo and Tagicakibau threatened to break free.

The Samoan was just ten metres out when he latched on to Seilala Mapusua's offload but Delport not only brought him down, he forced him into a fumble as well.

The visitors' were creaking and on the quarter-hour mark, their bend-but-don't-break defence broke.

Drahm sliced a clearance barely outside his 22 and former Solihull School pupil James Hudson claimed the resulting lineout.

After a couple of probes around the fringes, Irish swung play left where Mapusua's long pass gave Tagicakibau acres of room to skirt round Drahm.

He made insufficient distance in goal to give Riki Flutey much chance with the conversion and the lead was limited to five points.

That seemed to prompt the Midlanders into life. What followed was their first spell of sustained momentum, a robust pick-and-drive sequence that produced their first try.

In the two minutes they had the ball, only once did they stray outside the hash-marks as Aleki Lutui - whose throwing-in to the lineout left masses to be desired - led the charge with four carries.

Somewhat inexplicably, Worcester's lineout lacked any constant variables and suffered for it.

A side missing a beacon like Craig Gillies should have retained an element of continuity but with Will Bowley and Blaze - youngsters with negligible top-flight experience - as jumpers and Lutui's errant throwing, the set piece that is normally their strength was rendered virtually useless.

That said, it was Lutui's charge that looked to have given Tony Windo the opportunity to go under the posts, although the loose-head was held short.

Camped on the Irish line, Worcester were not to be denied and it was Powell, whose maturity at scrum half was sorely missed at Bristol, who sneaked over at the midway point in the period. Drahm's conversion made it 7-5.

Seven minutes before the break, Brian Smith's men regained the advantage as Kai Horstmann infringed once more, adjudging incorrectly that the ball was out of a ruck.

Irish kicked to touch, possession was reclaimed at the front of the lineout and former Scotland hooker Russell slipped off the side of a maul and through Bowley's efforts at stopping him. Nils Mordt assumed kicking duties and converted with aplomb for 12-7.

Drahm responded with a penalty before the break as Lutui returned a Paul Hodgson up-and-under that lacked depth. With the score at 12-10, Warriors were still in the game. They were ahead five minutes after the restart when the home front row failed to pack down properly, for which Worcester's full back punished them with three more points.

But John Brain's side were tiring and just before the hour, Drahm made a break and then inexplicably threw a pass back across halfway. Casey recycled the ball and swiftly fed his speed merchants.

Ojo skinned Lutui and then Tagicakibau ran clear to touch down under the posts. Mordt made it 19-13.

Drahm halved the gap on 67 minutes only for Casey to bash over from close range.

LONDON IRISH: Ojo (Armitage, 74); Bishop, Mordt (Everitt, 74), Mapusua, Tagicakibau; Flutey, Hodgson (Rees, 73); Hatley (Coetzee, 70), Russell (Paice, 38), Lea'aetoa, Hudson (Kennedy, 49), Casey, Roche (Danaher 49), Magne, Murphy.

WORCESTER: Drahm; Best (Tucker 27-34, 47-52), Rasmussen, Trueman, Del-port; Brown, Powell; Windo (Morris, 65), Lutui (Fortey, 58), Horsman (Taumoepeau, 52), Bowley (Murphy, 62), Blaze, Hickey (Quinnell, 65), Sanderson, Horstmann. Replacement: Runciman Referee: S Davey (RFU).