DIRECTOR of rugby Gary Gold expressed his “relief” after Worcester Warriors denied relegation rivals London Irish a point in a 23-8 victory at Sixways.

Josh Adams scored two first half tries and Chris Pennell notched 13 points from the kicking tee as Warriors moved 10 points clear of the drop zone in the Aviva Premiership.

Gold was not entirely happy with his side’s performance but insisted the result was “critically important” as Worcester bid to beat the drop.

“There is just more relief at being able to come away with four points and deny London Irish from getting a point,” Gold said.

“Every point is crucial as we saw last year but the season is a long way from over as we saw ourselves last year.

“Knowing Nick Kennedy and the guys at London Irish as well as I do I know they are not going to give up the fight.

“It is not going to get any easier for us going away to Sarries next week so we will back down to earn to start work again.

“I have always been saying it is about the performance and that wasn’t great in many aspects.

“But the end result was critically important.

“I would have liked to have played a little bit better than we did play.

“But in a game with that kind of pressure it is going to be difficult for both teams.

“I don’t think with respect either of us put on a spectacle.”

Adams opened the scoring on four minutes when he latched on to Ryan Mills’ kick before Pennell landed a conversion and a penalty to put Warriors 10-0 in front.

But Irish battled back with three points from Greig Tonks and a stunning solo effort from Alex Lewington to get within two points.

Almost immediately, though, Warriors responded as Adams weaved his way through for a superb second try just before the break.

Gold admitted it was a big turning point in the game as Pennell added the extras before slotting home two more penalties in the second half.

“I think we made some poor decisions and there was some poor execution when we did make a good decision,” he said.

“There was one play from a scrum just outside our 22 when we tried to play it and in hindsight we maybe should have pushed it in behind them and made them put the pressure back onto them.

“We made an error turning it over and a little error from Jono when he dropped the ball and then we were under pressure again.

“So the try before half-time was critical for us as it just gave us a little bit of a lift going into the changing room.”

Warriors failed to kick on in second peirod but Gold admitted he would be "greedy" if was frustrated not to come away with maximum points.

"We e are by no means the finished product," Gold added. 

"We have managed to score four or five tries in a couple of games but you see how hard you have got to work for it.

"London Irish defended very well through passages of play and I can’t commend them enough.

"It goes to ashow what a great competition is.

"You are always disappointed especially when you score so early as you are thinking hopefully we can get a couple more across the line.

"But I am very happy for the boys and for the result."