WORCESTER Warriors' Ashton Gate hoodoo continued on Saturday as they were beaten 27-5 by Bristol Bears in a scrappy Gallagher Premiership affair

Warriors were looking to build on last weekend's much needed win against Sale Sharks at a ground where they have won just once in the Premiership, but it was not to be as Bears resisted a brief second-half fightback to secure victory.

Bristol scored two tries right at the end of the first-half through Toby Fricker and Sam Jeffries as they lead 13-0 at half-time.

Warriors started the second-half well and scored through Noah Heward's acrobatic finish in the corner but Tom Whiteley's solo effort two minutes later cancelled it out before Fricker scored again late on to seal the bonus-point.

The first half was cagey and both sides spent the first 30 minutes weighing each other up.

Worcester did cross inside the first quarter through Noah Heward but it was ruled out, correctly, for a forward pass in the build-up as Warriors showed their intent.

Bristol then controlled territory and the ball, applying plenty of pressure on the Worcester try line but the visitors did well to keep them out until the final five minutes.

A number of penalties pinned Warriors back and with their scrum under serious pressure, it eventually told and Fricker scampered over the line out wide for the first try.

It was a double blow for the visitors as straight from the restart they failed to stop Bristol's Luke Morahan from galloping through bodies to take his side into the 22.

Bears messed it up originally as Heward intercepted but when he was tackled, the hosts turned it over at the breakdown and Jeffries sprinted down the left touchline to score in the corner right on the half-time whistle.

At 13-0 down, warriors needed to start the second-half well and they did just that when Heward showed his finishing skills to brilliantly score in the corner to reduce the deficit in the 49th minute.

But any hope of a second-half fightback was quickly rubbed out as replacement scrum-half Tom Whiteley spotted a gap in the Worcester defence before stepping around Humphreys to score two minutes later.

Worcester kept plugging away and almost got one back but for a forward pass ruling out Humphreys' try in the corner after a line break from Gareth Simpson.

The clock was ticking down and with six minutes on the clock Fricker scored again to wrap up the bonus-point and condemn