A superb try by England Saxons wing Miles Benjamin on the stroke of half-time, after some magical handling from fly half Joe Carlisle, ensured Worcester wrapped up a deserved third win of the league season.

But that was only half the story on a night of high passion and drama at the home of the Warriors that was witnessed by the biggest crowd of the season as over 10,000 packed into the stadium and millions watched worldwide on ESPN.

Hill had called on his Warriors to produce the best performance of the season so far against a Bath side that contained a number of World Cup stars, including New Zealand fly half Stephen Donald and former England skipper Lewis Moody.

The Warriors rose to that challenge with a power-packed show with the home pack putting their bodies on the line time and time again while the backs showcased a real cutting edge that culminated in a fine score just seconds before the interval.

Strong running lines had opened up space for Carlisle who picked out a Bath forward and then flicked a beautifully delayed pass over his left shoulder to the onrushing Benjamin.

The wing still had plenty to do but broke free of Tom Biggs as he tried in vain to hang onto his shirt and then raced around Nick Abendanon to crash over to a thundering ovation.

A second half try from visiting prop Charlie Beech set up a dramatic finale, but Warriors showed they had learnt the lessons of previous rounds when winning positions had gone astray and went on the attack with a drop goal from Andy Goode settling the affair.

Hill had opted to give Matt Kvesic the Number Eight shirt, one of two changes to his starting line-up, and the young England Under-20 international was in the thick of the action from the opening minute as he fielded a high ball and then rolled out of tackles to make hard yards.

Twice Warriors stole early lineout ball off the throw of Mark Lilley, playing out of position at hooker, as Worcester looked to pin the visitors back with Carlisle showing his range of kicks to frustrate a Bath side that were clearly knocked out of their stride by a ferocious opening from the hosts.

Kvesic nicked more ball on the floor before incessant pressure looked set to tell as Bath were caught the wrong side at the breakdown only for Carlisle to slip on his approach to a penalty and screw the effort wide.

However, the fly half, who was inspired throughout, made no mistake two minutes later when big Bath prop Anthony Perenise was penalised and Carlisle drilled the kick between the uprights for a 3-0 lead.

Ryan Caldwell was the next man to fall foul of referee Martin Fox, for dragging down a driving maul from the kick-off, which resulted in Neil Best and Tevita Taumoepeau making powerful charges before Shaun Perry box kicked Bath into more trouble.

Bath looked dangerous when they could get hold of the ball as Beech raced into space, after a neat offload from Francois Louw in the tackle, but he was hauled down by Mullan. A penalty was won on the floor and Kiwi ace Donald stepped up only to completely fluff his kick wide.

The visitors threatened before the break when they sprung a counter attack from deep after securing turnover ball inside their own half.

Strong running Sam Vesty and the elusive Biggs combined to fly down the left wing before Carlisle ran back to take down his man. Huge pressure followed until the brilliant Best got his hands on the ball to win a relieving penalty.

A penalty, for coming in at the side of the driving maul to disrupt it, gave Bath and Donald the chance to level up the scores. But once again the New Zealander made a mess of his effort to ironic cheers from the home crowd.

Marcel Garvey brilliantly rolled away from a thumping tackle from Moody, who was left flat on his back, and Worcester broke away at lightning pace as Errie Claassens popped up on the left and almost fed Grove before Fox pulled back play for a forward pass.

Just as Worcester's pressure looked set to only be rewarded with three points, a moment of brilliance from Carlisle and Benjamin saw the fly half release the wing into space and he showed all his predatory skills to crash in for a 10-0 lead at the break as Sixways caught its breath.

Worcester replaced Perry, off with hamstring tweak, with Jonny Arr at the break and the fit-again scrum half was soon marshaling the pack as they won another penalty as the Bath front row popped up under big pressure.

Warriors were putting in a real shift at the breakdown, against a high class Bath back row, and battling for every piece of possession as a charged down kick was picked up by Grove who bravely dived into a pile of bodies to get his hands on the ball.

Mullan won a scrum penalty, as he drilled his opposite number to the floor, before Carlisle looked to open up the lead with a drop goal but saw his effort slice just wide right off his greasy boot.

The young home fly half was having a big game and nearly grabbed a try of his own when he picked off a looping Bath pass and raced down the middle only to be hauled down by Abendanon. Play then switched up the other end as Louw broke clear but his long pass wide found the turf and not supporting runners.

A big dust up in midfield then worked to Worcester's advantage as, with bodies strewn on the floor, Chris Jones galloped away and won the penalty as Bath frantically tried to regroup that Carlisle slotted for a 13-0 lead.

Bath's indiscipline was hurting them as Simon Taylor was penalised at the breakdown, as he went over the top of the ball. Pennell lined up an ambitious kick from 10 metres inside his own half, but the effort pulled up just short.

Taylor redeemed himself by charging down a Carlisle clearing kick and Bath swarmed forward with three minutes of intense pressure following as they went left and right at pace before knocking on to huge home cheers.

The game was held up for over ten minutes by an injury to Dave Attwood while Andy Goode replaced a limping Dale Rasmussen, who had simply tackled himself to a standstill with a real captain's display.

The visitors were looking to run from everywhere on the pitch and won a penalty that Olly Barkley nudged into the corner. A strong driving lineout saw Bath rumble up to the line and over with referee Fox going to the TMO before the visitors were awarded the try and the lead was cut to 13-7.

Worcester knew they simply could not afford to sit back and defend the lead and some impressive work on the floor from Bruce Douglas won a scrum before Arr, not for the first time, showed his game management skills with a clever grubber that forced Cuthbert to hurriedly slice a kick away.

Bath's ambition in their own 22 then caught them out as Grove picked off a stray pass from Donald and Worcester quickly swarmed to secure the ball before feeding it back to Goode who coolly slotted a crucial drop goal to open up a 16-7 lead.

Seconds later Garvey had Sixways on its feet with a brilliant jinking run from deep as he danced past tiring tackles to make 30 exhilarating metres and then Arr turned the Bath defence once more with a sublime kick into the corner.

Bath continued to push for openings in the closing minutes, but a massive tackle from the all-action Sam Betty clattered Louw to the floor and secured home ball as the clock ran down and Goode kicked out to start the celebrations.

Timeline:

10m Carlisle p 3-0

40m Benjamin t Carlisle c 10-0

57m Carlisle p 13-0

69m Beech t Barkley c 13-7

74m Goode dg 16-7

Worcester Warriors: 01 Matt Mullan (Douglas 50), 02 Ed Shervington (Lutui 68), 03 Tevita Taumoepeau, 04 Chris Jones (Gulliver 68), 05 Craig Gillies, 06 Neil Best (Abbott 69), 07 Sam Betty, 08 Matt Kvesic, 09 Shaun Perry (Arr 40), 10 Joe Carlisle, 11 Miles Benjamin, 12 Dale Rasmussen (Goode 66), 13 Alex Grove, 14 Marcel Garvey, 15 Errie Claassens (Pennell 57)

Replacements: 16 Bruce Douglas, 17 Aleki Lutui, 18 James Currie, 19 Ben Gulliver, 20 Jake Abbott, 21 Jonny Arr, 22 Andy Goode, 23 Chris Pennell