Two penalties from fly half Joe Carlisle proved enough for Warriors to secure a first win on the road in the top-flight since April 2009 - but that was only half the story of a match drenched in both effort and rain!

The heavens opened just over an hour before kick-off and the style of the game duly changed as a slippery ball and difficult playing surface saw the clash become a forward orientated battle.

It was Warriors, though, that got the tactics spot on as they kept Wasps pinned back, took rare chances for points when they presented themselves and tackled themselves to a standstill in defence.

Head Coach Richard Hill would have been delighted by the manner of the win, as they shutout Wasps and leapfrogged them in the league table ahead of the derby with Gloucester next weekend.

However, the result was soured by a serious injury to new signing Ezra Taylor after just two minutes of his debut. A patella tendon injury could now keep the Samoa international back row out for the season.

Hill had made five changes to the team that suffered defeat to Leicester over the Christmas period with Taylor, Matt Kvesic, Oliver Tomaszczyk, Aleki Lutui and Jonny Arr all called up.

Taylor immediately got his hands on the ball and smashed into early contact, but within seconds was left on the turf in clear discomfort after a lineout. The Number Eight was carried off just two minutes into his debut and replaced by Jake Abbott.

Worcester looked rattled by the early loss and Wasps responded by carrying the ball strongly into contact through the forwards, as they battled for hard yards, while Dominic Waldouck and Elliot Daly looked for space out wide only to meet a wall of defiance from Warriors.

The rain started to ease but the game was still very forward orientated in the opening exchanges as both packs looked to inch forward at every opportunity.

Chris Jones and James Percival lead the tackle count for the visitors and when Nicky Robinson looked to the sky for space, with a high cross field kick to Christian Wade, the league's top try scorer was tackled by Miles Benjamin.

Alex Grove showed his footballing skills to keep ball alive and set up a counterattack for Matt Kvesic while Wasps hit back in an end-to-end spell of play with Robinson kicking in behind and forcing Chris Pennell to slice up the touchline under pressure from the rapid Tom Varndell.

Both teams were struggling with the wet ball as Marcel Garvey spilled a high up and under from Daly while Riki Flutey coughed up a low pass in midfield and Grove again scooped and looked to set a counter in motion.

Garvey showed his skills in the wet by brilliantly breaking from deep as he rolled out of tackles to sprint 30 metres up field and feed Abbott on his shoulder. Kvesic and Benjamin rattled up to the line before control was lost and the ball spilled.

Carlisle tried his luck with a long range drop goal that fell short from inside his own half after Wasps failed to find touch. The fly half then looked to inject some pace with a line break and won a penalty as Wasps failed to release but was again short with his effort on 23 minutes.

Hill opted to change his front row options with Tevita Taumoepeau replacing Tomaszczyk, who had been repeatedly penalised by referee Wayne Barnes, on 26 minutes.

Home new boy Tinus du Plessis looked to make his mark on his debut as he picked up and went straight down the middle only to be hauled down by the fast retreating Abbott. Wasps again swarmed around the man and looked wide but lost control as Wade limped off.

Worcester went through the phases to intelligently move up field before Jonny Arr produced a peach of a kick into the corner that just stayed the right side of the corner flag.

Tempers threatened to flare after a massive tackle from Percival on Joe Simpson while Wasps picked and went for space before they looked to unleash the backs only to encounter more big hits as Rasmussen and Grove closed in and forced a penalty.

A solid driving lineout from Warriors secured another shot a goal for Carlisle a minute before the interval and he duly slotted the difficult kick from out wide for a morale boosting 3-0 lead at half-time.

Replacement Shaun Perry, on at half-time, was straight into tackling duty in the opening minute of the second period before fellow substitute Ryan Davis dropped into the pocket only to slice a home drop goal attempt wide right.

Carlisle was next to try his luck in the drop goal lottery in wet conditions as he picked a difficult pass up off his toes but got under his kick which pulled up short.

Worcester's victory bid was hit when Garvey was sinbinned for an innocuous looking trip on Varndell, spotted by the touch judge, but replacement fly half Davis again saw his effort at the posts drop short.

With Worcester now a man down, Carlisle was cleverly showcasing his range of kicks to drill Wasps onto the back foot as twice he found touch with balls that spat off the turf when they landed.

Chris Mayor looked to get the home side going as he broke from deep and skipped inside a tackle. Simpson opted to put in a grubber kick that was superbly picked up on the slide from Kvesic for Carlisle who completed the clearance as home pressure built.

Home skipper Marco Wentzel was next to look for a way through after Simpson spun play down the opposite flank after running down a blind alley. The lock, though, tried to offload in contact and the chance was gone before Garvey returned to the field.

A penalty for not rolling away against Percival gave Wasps another chance to level the scores 16 minutes from time. Full back Daly this time took over the kicking duties from 45-metres out, but his kick flew left of target.

Worcester now looked to mount an attack of their own with a driving lineout and were then handed a penalty when home scrum half Simpson got the wrong side of referee Wayne Barnes as he argued over a kick. Carlisle showed his nerve to nudge Worcester 6-0 ahead with ten minutes left.

Nerves were now building inside Adams Park with both teams aware of the consequences of the result. Chris Jones sent pulses racing as he picked up a knock on and raced down the middle before Daly countered with a slicing run from deep.

One last throw of the dice from the hosts saw them throw caution to the wind and twice keep moves alive in difficult positions before a combination of Benjamin and Ed Shervington put Mayor into touch.

With possession assured, the Worcester pack went to work and skillfully ran the clock down for the final two minutes before Carlisle booted the ball high into the stands to signal jubilant scenes of celebration from the away support.

Timeline:

39m Carlisle p 0-3

70m Carlisle p 0-6

Worcester Warriors: 01 Matt Mullan, 02 Aleki Lutui (Shervington 57), 03 Oliver Tomaszczyk (Taumoepeau 26), 04 James Percival, 05 Chris Jones, 06 Sam Betty, 07 Matt Kvesic, 08 Ezra Taylor (Abbott 2), 09 Jonny Arr (Perry 40), 10 Joe Carlisle, 11 Miles Benjamin, 12 Dale Rasmussen, 13 Alex Grove, 14 Marcel Garvey, 15 Chris Pennell

Replacements: 16 Bruce Douglas, 17 Ed Shervington, 18 Tevita Taumoepeau, 19 Ben Gulliver, 20 Jake Abbott, 21 Shaun Perry, 22 Andy Goode, 23 Ravai Fatiaki