A FIERCE opening onslaught swept Worcester Warriors into the semi-finals of the British and Irish Cup – but there is still plenty of room for improvement.

While Warriors blew away Pontypridd in the first 20 minutes to lead 21-3, they laboured badly in the second-half as the sizeable away support found their voice.

Warriors dominated proceedings for long spells after the interval but the Welshmen scored seven points without reply in a stop-start second period.

Worcester had the upper-hand in the scrum as Ryan Bower and Joe Rees gave their all but, for once, they couldn’t translate their advantage into points.

Despite energetic displays from Warriors’ man-of-the-match Ben Howard and skipper Charlie Mulchrone, the hosts failed to cross the Pontypridd whitewash for more than an hour.

Fly-half Ignacio Mieres had a mixed afternoon, with a 14-point haul in the opening half, but he also fell short with several attempted penalty kicks to touch.

The Welsh outfit slowed the breakdown and turned over the ball at mauls, particularly after the re-start, to frustrate the home side.

With rivals Bristol, holders Leintster ‘A’ and Doncaster Knights also through to the last four, Warriors know they will have to produce an 80-minue display to reach the final.

Warriors have now chalked up 18 successive wins at first-team level this term and, in truth, the final scoreline suggests the quarter-final tie was a closer affair than it was.

Perhaps, crucially, the visitors failed to make the most of a one-man advantage when Warriors centre Ravai Fatiaki was yellow-carded for a late tackle in the 21st minute.

Instead of closing the gap, Ponty found Warriors’ defence in resolute form during that important 10-minute passage of play.

Mieres was also sin-binned in the dying minutes, following a fracas in front of the East Stand, but that was far too late to affect the result.

Ponty, whose ranks of supporters created the best atmosphere at Sixways this season, were silenced inside 47 seconds.

Impressive full-back Howard scythed through a gap and found winger Dean Hammond who dived over in the left-hand corner.

Despite some boos from a small minority of the away fans, Mieres made no mistake with the conversion to give Warriors an early 7-0 cushion. The visitors hit back and won a penalty after Worcester had infringed and Simon Humberstone’s penalty reduced arrears.

Worcester remained on the front foot and Howard timed his run perfectly to pick up a pass to finish off a fine move for their second try, which Mieres slotted.

It got even better for Worcester seconds later when Hammond’s crunching tackle on Geraint Walsh knocked the ball loose and Mieres picked up to run unopposed to the line.

The Argentinian added the extras to ease Warriors into a 21-3 cushion after 17 minutes and he stretched the lead further with a penalty.

But Worcester’s scrum dominance, impressive line-out work from Dan Sanderson, good handling from Mat Gilbert and attacking play from James Stephenson, Mulchrone and Howard all went unrewarded after the interval.

A resolute Ponty struck back and registered the only points of the second-half when Walsh crossed for a try, converted by Humberstone.