Leeds Carnegie produced one of the most heroic displays in the club's history to earn a share of the spoils at Worcester as the two teams battled it out in the mud for a 10-10 draw.
Stuart Lancaster made just one change to the side that lost last week against Bristol with Erik Lund coming in for the injured Jon Dunbar.
The teams were greeted by wet and winding conditions and soft Sixways pitch however the visitors soon put those matters to the back of their mind as, for the third game running, they scored the first try of the match.
Leeds were playing the percentages well with Leigh Hinton and John Holtby using the kick chase to good effect. Worcester were only able to clear to touch and from the resultant line out, eventually Mike MacDonald rumbled over for the try. Di Bernardo added a brilliant touchline conversion to make it 7-0 after eight minutes. It could have been even better for Leeds with Di Bernardo having hooked an earlier penalty attempt wide.
After back to back wins over Sale and Leicester, Worcester knew a win over Leeds would all but seal their place in the Guinness Premiership for next season and they came back in determined mood. After several waves of pressure hooker Aleki Lutui managed to get the ball down with a second effort. Drahm missed the conversion so Carnegie still led.
The home side then based themselves in the Leeds half for nearly 20 minutes as it appeared certain that their forwards would strangle the life out of the game and pummel Leeds in to submission. Ryan Powell had a try disallowed for a knock on after 20 minutes by the video ref. Having kept the ball in the forwards, after that Worcester decided to spread the ball wide. Marcel Garvey cut in from his wing to cause havoc in midfield and the ball was then spread wide quickly for Miles Benjamin to score in the corner. Drahm was off target again so despite having absorbed so much pressure Leeds only found themselves three points behind.
Both teams had chances to score after that. Firstly, John Holtby for Leeds hacked a spilled ball ahead but was unable to regather the ball 20 metres from the line as he raced through. Worcester were then denied another try by the video ref after Mike MacDonald knocked the ball from Tony Windo possession as the went for the line.
However, with a minute remaining the half, Di Bernardo was able to level the score with a penalty from 25 metres out to give the visitors a major boost going into the break.
Leeds lost Jonny Hepworth at half time through injury but they showed much more attacking flair in the opening exchanges as they took advantage of the strong wind at their backs. Hinton and Di Bernardo kicked for position and pinned Garvey and Benjamin deep in their half. Leeds managed to keep the ball for a number of phases but the closest they came to scoring was an attempted drop goal by Di Bernardo which went wide.
Soon after that, Worcester hacked the ball down field and spent the vast majority of the rest of the half inside the Leeds half. The visitors had to produce some heroic defence to keep the Warriors out with Hendre Fourie, Vili Ma'asi and MacDonald producing some incredible last ditch tackles to keep the score level.
Worcester had a chance with ten minutes remaining to go for the lead but Drahm elected to kick to the corner rather than go for a goal when Hooper was penalised for coming in from an offside position.
As much as Worcester pressed for a winning score, they could not find a way through and Leeds held on for a richly deserved share of the points.
Worcester Warriors: Delport, Garvey, Rasmussen, Tuitupou, Benjamin, Drahm, M Powell, Windo, Lutui, Taumoepeau, Rawlinson, Gillies, Wood, Sanderson, Horstmann.
Replacements: Mullan for Windo (67), Ruwers, Bowley for Gillies (68), Hickey for Wood (67), Pennell, Carlisle, R Powell for Powell (68)
Leeds Carnegie: Hinton, Holtby, Hepworth, Tuilagi, Biggs, Di Bernardo, Bedford, MacDonald, Ma'asi, McGee, Hooper, Lund, Myall, Fourie, Balding.
Replacements: Hopcroft for mcgee (57), Rawlinson, Oakley for Balding (67), Clark for Fourie (70), Brooks, Blackett for Tuilagi (61), Vickerman for Hepworth (HT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Attedance: 9,351