WORCESTER Warriors claimed a bonus-point 34-28 victory over 14-man Dragons, but a relieved boss Alan Solomons said: “We made hard work of that.”

Solomons’ side played 62 minutes of the European Challenge Cup clash with a man advantage after Taine Basham’s red card.

But Dragons twice edged ahead in the second half before tries from debutant Noah Heward and Jono Kitto sealed the victory.

Solomons was pleased to come out on top as Warriors aim to progress to the quarter-finals but he felt his side “overplayed” and “lacked a bit of patience”.

READ MORE | RYAN RILED BY REFEREEING DECISIONS ON SIXWAYS RETURN

“We made hard work of that,” Solomons said.

“When they went down to 14 men, we didn’t have enough field position and we were playing the game in the wrong parts of the field.

“Then what escalated that was that we made quite a lot of errors and gave away penalties so we made a rod for our own back.

“That was summed up when we scored and from the kick off we lost the ball and straight away gave a penalty back to them.

"Even near the end we made it difficult because we had the game (won) and then they got the try which brought them within six.

“Having said that full marks to the boys as they stuck to their task right until the end and came away with the bonus point win which is critical as it keeps our hopes alive of making that quarter-final spot.”

Warriors also benefitted from a red card in last weekend’s win over Sale Sharks but Solomons reckoned his side managed the game better that time around.

“We overplayed today and we weren’t as patient as we should have been,” Solomons said.

“In the second half of the Sale game we ended up dominating both territory and certainly possession so eventually the points came as we were playing against 14 men.

“The players are all good, but in the heat of battle they probably felt we can do something with this ball.

“But they lacked a little bit of patience. That’s all.”

With four minutes to go Sam Davies broke free from inside his side’s own half before feeding Luke Baldwin, on loan from Worcester, to finish under the posts and secure a losing bonus point that keeps Dragons top of Pool One. 

“That was disappointing because it became a six-point difference and then there is the possibility if they get another try we could be in trouble," Solomons said.

“But we saw it off.

“We have got to look at the positives but I thought we could have managed the game a bit better and I felt there were too many errors and penalties.”

There appeared to be a forward pass from Adam Warren in the build-up to Rhodri Williams’ try at the start of the second half.

But Solomons added: “I could not comment on that at all.

“I would have to look at the film to get a clear idea.”