NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 32 WORCESTER WARRIORS 24

A SEASON that has thrown up many unpredictable results in the Aviva Premiership has ended with a predictable outcome for Worcester Warriors.

Twelve months on from finishing in 11th position Warriors find themselves in exactly the same spot reflecting on another campaign of missed opportunities.

Like last season Warriors turned on the style at times, scoring tries at will and giving their fans moments to savour.

Who could forget their battling win over defending champions Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park or their first-ever victory at Leicester Tigers?

But those glorious triumphs were cancelled out by error-strewn and ill-disciplined performances which dented Warriors’ hopes of mid-table security.

After ensuring survival with a seven-try 44-13 drumming of Harlequins last weekend Warriors had the chance to secure their highest league position in more than a decade.

A victory over Northampton Saints and a defeat for Quins against Exeter would have seen Worcester climb to ninth place.

But they surrendered a 14-0 lead in a 32-24 loss at Franklin’s Gardens to remain stuck in the bottom two.

It has left director of rugby Alan Solomons with plenty to ponder as he bids to transform Warriors’ fortunes in the 2018-19 season.

And the challenge is expected to get even bigger with the return of a cash-rich Bristol side from the Championship.

But Solomons has strengthened his squad and will be boosted by the end-of-season form of Ben Te’o, Francois Hougaard and Marco Mama.

The trio were excellent once again for Warriors while potent wing Josh Adams and fearless flanker Sam Lewis continue to shine.

This season has also seen the emergence of a number of promising players including Will Butler, Ollie Lawrence and Andrew Kitchener.

Saturday’s encounter at Northampton was billed as Ben Foden’s farewell as the Saints star made his 250th and final appearance for the club.

But Butler, making his first Premiership start for Worcester, threatened to spoil the 32-year-old’s day in the sun.

After Foden saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on, Perry Humphreys burst through a gap and put Butler in for his first try.

The 20-year-old’s afternoon got even better on 11 minutes when he did brilliantly to get on the end of Dorian Jones’ grubber kick to touch down.

Jones converted both tries to put Warriors in command.

But errors crept into Worcester’s game and Saints closed the gap on 24 minutes when Mitch Eadie squeezed over near the posts. James Grayson added the extras.

The visitors then suffered a double injury blow as Butler went off with his arm in a sling before Hougaard left the field on a stretcher.

Grayson cut the deficit with a penalty as Warriors finished the half under pressure.

The interval appeared to come at the right time for Worcester as they made a superb start to the second period.

Tom Howe latched onto a kick from Adams before setting up Te’o to finish. Jones made the conversion to move his side 21-10 in front.

But Saints hit back with two tries in the space of four minutes. Firstly, Nafi Tuitavake scored from close range which Grayson converted before Foden darted through to score following a sweeping move.

Warriors briefly regained the lead courtesy of a Jones penalty but a loose kick from the fly-half gifted Saints a try-scoring chance and they grabbed it with both hands.

Foden went on the attack and offloaded to Tom Collins who eased over with Grayson converting.

A losing bonus point would have taken Worcester above Quins into 10th position.

But Stephen Myler landed a last-minute penalty after Adams was sin-binned for offside to leave Warriors empty-handed.