Torrential rain battered the home of the Warriors throughout the clash and a young home side also had to contend with an Albion side intent on hitting top form ahead of the RFU Championship clash with Doncaster Knights in just over a week.

Harrison Tovey grabbed the only try of a disjointed opening half as the rain poured down while efforts from Ien Ashcroft-Leigh, Sam Hocking and Jack Arnott, plus the ever reliable boot of fly half Paul Roberts, sent them clear.

A young Warriors side, though, can be proud of their efforts against a physical and more experienced line-up as they battled hard against both the elements and the opposition.

Plymouth fly half Roberts missed an early penalty before making amends on five minutes to give Albion a lead they would never lose.

The conditions made handling difficult for both teams in the opening exchanges with the ball resembling a bar of soap and a series of knock-ons halting play.

Centre Stephan Shillingford finally got the Warriors go forward as he found a gap and darted through after a quick tap penalty from Ollie Frost. A high tackle gave Tom Carlisle the chance to open the Worcester account but his effort lacked direction if not power.

Offside against Plymouth gave Carlisle the chance to kick for more territory and he made good ground. And when Worcester lost the ball at the lineout it was quick feet from Joe Nellany that saw him roll out of a tackle and break away.

The visitors struck for the opening try of the night as some neat handling to made big yards down the left and lock Tovey showed good strength and pace to make the corner.

Warriors again showed good invention as Shillingford looked down the line to send Ben Howard into space. Max Stelling was the next beneficiary of good work from his midfield partner as he broke two tackles and drove into clear air.

A hack ahead, after more spilled ball in the middle, then forced Plymouth to defend a five-metre scrum as they touched back under pressure from skipper Matt Kvesic.

Worcester were rewarded for their endeavour with a penalty from Carlisle, younger brother of first team ace Joe, but within a minute Plymouth nudged further ahead after a big scrum secured a penalty that Roberts easily dispatched from in front of the posts.

Plymouth played some neat incisive rugby down the right only for Henry Slade to slice straight into touch as he looked to kick into space and challenge his opposite number in a race for the whitewash.

Kvesic was next to gobble up a stray Albion lineout to crash into visiting territory and send alarm bells ringing. A driving lineout then forced Plymouth back only for a dropped ball in the tackle to halt home momentum.

A superb lineout win from Danny Wright allowed Warriors to again break with real menace, but a well drilled Plymouth defence was disrupting any home possession while the visiting pack was taking no step back with a number of penalties at scrum time for an 11-3 half-time lead.

Plymouth restarted the second half and immediately had a chance to extend the lead, but an ambitious kick from Slade from inside his own half fell wide left.

Ashcroft-Leigh soon joined the fray and had an immediate impact as he scored with his very first touch as drove over after Herbie Stupple showed his raw power to break through the initial tackles deep in the Worcester 22.

Roberts kicked Plymouth further ahead with another penalty after a big driving lineout forced Worcester to concede the penalty.

A shuddering hit by replacement home wing Iolo Evans left his opposite number in a heap on the floor but Plymouth continued to impress up front with another scrum penalty allowing Roberts to add to his growing tally.

Visiting centre Beavon Armitage was sin binned after a clinical trip as Worcester looked to chip in behind and expose some space.

A superb tackle followed from Nellany, as he sprinted back a full 70-metres to haul down Sam Jones as he threatened to score a breakaway after picking up a loose pass to ground. But Plymouth were not to be denied as they quickly worked an overlap wide for Hocking to canter over.

An impressive Plymouth show was complete in the final minutes as a break from Slade against a tired home rearguard freed up some space on the right and a floated pass picked out Arnott who slid over in the corner in the final seconds.

Timeline:

05m Roberts p 0-3

17m Tovey t 0-8

27m Carlisle p 3-8

29m Roberts p 3-11

49m Ashcroft-Leigh t Roberts c 3-18

53m Roberts p 3-21

67m Roberts p 3-24

70m Hocking t 3-29

80m Arnott t Roberts c 3-36

Warriors: 01 George Porter (Furniss 71), 02 Antiono Harris (Cosgrove 71), 03 Rob O'Donnell (Currie 40), 04 Danny Wright, 05 Liam Mather, 06 Ed Taylor (Hill 50), 07 Matt Kvesic (Brock 40), 08 Dan Youngs (Boyce 50), 09 Ollie Frost (Thomas 62), 10 Tom Carlisle, 11 Josh Watkins, 12 Stephan Shillingford (Johnson 62), 13 Max Stelling, 14 Joe Nellany, 15 Ben Howard (Evans 49)

Replacements: 16 Jack Cosgrove, 17 Ryan Furniss, 18 James Currie, 19 Adrian Hill, 20 Andrew Boyce, 21 Will Brock, 22 Huw Thomas, 23 Jake Pratley, 24 Richard Johnson, 25 Iolo Evans

Plymouth: 01 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Andrew 55), 02 Jonathan Vickers (Morton 55), 03 Lloyd Fairbrother (Salter 55), 04 Harrison Tovey (Ascroft-Leigh 48), 05 Brett Beukeboom, 06 Herbie Stupple, 07 Sam Hocking, 08 Aaron Carpenter, 09 Paul Rowley (Cushion 40), 10 Paul Roberts, 11 Tom Bowen, 12 Beavon Armitage, 13 Keni Fisilau (Nasiga 65), 14 Rhodri McAtee (Arnott 40), 15 Henry Slade

Replacements: 16 Ruari Cushion, 17 Jack Arnott, 18 Sam Jones, 19 Lewis Warner, 20 Jack Andrew, 21 David Morton, 22 Jamie Salter, 23 Ian Ashcroft-Leigh, 24 Rupeni Nasiga