Stefan Shillingford scored a first half try but it was the visitors, who included a number of players with a vast amount of Aviva Premiership experience, who opened up a commanding 34-5 lead at the break.

Full back Ben Howard capped a fine team move to score in the second half as a youthful home side showed plenty of character.

But it was Wanderers who wrapped up the points to remain unbeaten in the competition this season.

Cavaliers are next in action on Monday when they travel north to face Sale Jets.

The visitors showed early muscle up front as loose-head prop Alex Waller was driven over from a driving lineout after four minutes.

Blair Cowan, back in the team after a broken hand ruled him out of action, showed good strength on his return to move into space, after the initial break from Howard and James Freeman, before offloading to Nile Dacres on his shoulder.

Worcester were keeping a strong Northampton backline quiet in the early stages until some neat footwork and raw pace from Noah Cato saw him draw the final man out and feed wing Tom Collins into space to score and open up a 12-0 lead.

The Worcester back division showed neat hands to release Josh Watkins and Shillingford into useful channels. Skipper George Porter, Ed Shervington - busy on his comeback from a hamstring injury - and Cowan carried the fight to Northampton.

The visitors went further ahead as a delayed pass sent Tom May into space and he looked to step Howard before feeding Scott Armstrong on his shoulder as he crashed to the turf.

Tempers flared after Cowan again returned a high hanging kick with interest and Cavaliers won the penalty. Rob O'Donnell rattled hard into contact, but Wanderers were working hard at the breakdown to disrupt and slow Worcester down as they turned over ball.

More neat handling from the visitors saw Danny Harriott bulldoze his way over before Worcester started to fight back as Tom Baker pinned Northampton back with a drilled grubber kick while Howard brilliantly took a high ball under pressure from two men.

A quick tap penalty caught Wanderers napping and saw Warriors rattle up close to the line before quick handling from Frost and his support runners gave Shillingford the space to dot down.

Northampton responded on the stroke of half-time as Lamb threw a clever dummy pass and released May on his left shoulder who had the power and pace to make the corner.

Cavaliers replaced Shervington and Cowan at the break with Ollie Hayes and Andy Dockray. And it was the hosts who started the brighter as Will Brock cut into space and Joe Nellany showed a nice change of pace to make inroads, while Cavaliers also showed superb resolve and defence to shunt a driving lineout back and then win ball on the floor as Ross McMillan was hit backwards.

Armstrong grabbed his second of the night after neat footwork down the flank, although credit to Howard who raced out to block the conversion attempt. Quick-fire tries from Collins and Cato saw Northampton break past the half century and further ahead.

Worcester responded by scoring a sublime try as the ever-alert Frost took a quick tap penalty and released Dacres to gallop down the middle. He offloaded in the tackle to Watkins who in turn fed Hayes and Howard who finished off the flowing attacking move.

Replacement fly half Will Hooley dived in the corner for Northampton as the game entered the final ten minutes and McMillan crashed over from close range.

Timeline:

04m Waller t Lamb c 0-7

07m Collins t 0-12

15m Lamb p 0-15

19m Armstrong t Lamb c 0-22

27m Harriott t Lamb c 0-29

35m Shillingford t 5-29

40m May t 5-34

49m Armstrong t 5-39

52m Collins t Hooley c 5-46

54m Cato t Hooley c 5-53

62m Howard t 10-53

69m Hooley t Hooley c 10-60

78m McMillan t Hooley 10-67

Cavaliers: 01 George Porter (Jones 51), 02 Ed Shervington (Hayes 40), 03 Rob O'Donnell (Furniss 28), 04 Sam Herrington, 05 Nile Dacres, 06 James Freeman (Young 51), 07 Will Brock (Harris 54), 08 Blair Cowan (Dockray 40), 09 Ollie Frost, 10 Tom Baker (Thomas 56), 11 Josh Watkins, 12 Jack Wardle (Farrington 56), 13 Stephan Shillingford, 14 Joe Nellany, 15 Ben Howard

Replacements: 16 Ollie Hayes, 17 Ryan Furniss, 18 Ceri Jones, 19 Antonio Harris, 20 Dan Young, 21 Andy Dockray, 22 Huw Thomas, 23 Matt Farrington