LADY luck did not shine on Worcester Warriors as they were beaten by Bath in the European Challenge Cup final at Gloucester's rain-lashed Kingsholm stadium.

The men from Sixways battled bravely throughout, but they could not overcome the powerful West Country giants although it seemed as though they were playing against 16 men on many occasions.

French referee Christophe Berdos made a host of bemusing decisions - most of which ruled against the Warriors - as Bath ended a 10-year trophy drought thanks to the boot of England's Olly Barkley, who contributed 14 points, and first-half tries from Jonny Faamatuainu and Nick Abendanon.

Bath second row Danny Grewcock could easily have been sent to the sin-bin for two blatant infringements which denied Worces-ter try-scoring opportunities, while flanker Faamatuainu benefited from a huge forward pass to score the game's first try. Bath, howeber, dominated possession at times and deserved their victory.

Departing fly-half Shane Drahm slotted three penalties to keep Worcester in touch, while Thinus Delport, who was also playing his final game for the club, slid over for a late consolation try.

Bath won a second-minute penalty after Worcester failed to retreat 10 metres from a quickly-taken tap-and-go, which gave inside centre Barkley his first shot at goal. The England international shanked his effort low to the right of the posts, though, to give Warriors an early reprieve.

Warriors hit back with several phases before Drahm found a good touch just outside the Bath 22. The West Country side won their line-out and broke up-field, but an excellent Greg Rawlinson tap-tackle saw the men from Sixways force turn-over ball.

After winning the put-in with a solid scrum, the Worcester front row collapsed and Bath were awarded a penalty that Barkley kicked to the corner. However, the line-out was scrappy and Bath knocked-on.

In the 15th minute, Worcester skipper Pat Sanderson was penalised for hands in the ruck and Barkley lined up his second penalty attempt. This time, the number 12 made no mistake and scored the opening points of the game from on the 10-metre line.

Drahm then put Bath under real pressure with a cross-field kick that skidded into touch.

Lee Mears opted to throw long, but cleared the end of the line-out where Sanderson gathered at pace and crashed towards the line. The Warriors skipper was held up, but Grewcock cynically came in at the side and Drahm levelled the scores with a penalty.

Warriors began to dominate and came close to scoring when Drahm found Dale Ras-mussen, who passed to big Kiwi second row Rawlinson. However, as Worcester surged for the line Grewcock once again illegally put his hands in the ruck. Berdos elected to keep his cards in his pocket, but Worcester kicked to the corner. The forwards claimed line-out ball but infringed at the ruck to hand the ball back to Bath.

Just after the half-hour mark, Bath hit Warriors with a sucker punch. Giant wing Matt Banahan showed good strength to beat a couple of defenders, but his off-load to Faamatuainu seemed to go forward. Berdos let it go, though, and the blindside scampered over in the corner before Barkley added the extras via the upright.

From the re-start, Bath were awarded another penalty after Sanderson infringed at the breakdown, but Barkley's effort came back off the upright. However, scrum-half Matt Powell fumbled the ball forward and gave Bath an attacking scrum five metres out.

The men from The Rec drove at the Worcester defence spinning the ball out wide to right wing Joe Maddock, who burst past Delport's tackle before flicking the ball intelligently inside to full-back Nick Abendanon who slid over. Barkley missed the conversion.

On the stroke of half-time, Drahm's boot reduced the deficit to nine points with a penalty from in front of the posts after more foul play from the Bath forwards.

Bath attacked Worcester at the beginning of the second-half after Marcel Garvey carried Barkley's clearance into touch. After several phases, South African stand-off Butch James opted to try the drop-goal, but his effort was marginally off target.

Warriors cleared with a drop-out before Abendanon's punt was charged down and, as Drahm looked to pounce on the loose ball and head for the line he was tackled off the ball by hooker Mears. Unbelievably, after consultation with his touch judge, Berdos again opted not to send a player to the sin bin.

Drahm redressed the balance somewhat by slotting the resulting penalty.

Rawlinson was given a stern telling off after a high shot, but did not get sent to the bin. From the resulting penalty, Barkley extended Bath's lead by slotting the three-pointer.

Referee Berdos continued to anger the Worcester players, coaching staff and fans alike by signalling for a penalty to Warriors then giving Bath the scrum put-in after a Worcester forward pass, ruling that the advantage was over.

Bath then looked to have put the game out of Worcester's reach when Barkley slotted a drop-goal before James made it 24-9 with another penalty in the dying minutes.

Fittingly, it was departing Warriors hero Delport who had the final say when he dived over in the corner to round off a flowing move. Drahm added the touchline conversion, but it was followed by the final whistle as Worcester's brave cup campaign ended.

6:06pm Sunday 25th May 2008

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