Harlequins held on to beat Worcester Warriors 16-14 in the Aviva Premiership at a very muddy Stoop on Saturday evening.

Worcester lost last weekend to Sale Sharks and went into the match on a three away match losing streak which started with the 0-6 victory over London Wasps at Adams Park on New Year's Day.

Harlequins have only ever lost to Worcester on two ocassion and both were in Worcester's inaugural season in the Premiership back in 2004/05.

The visitors started at quite a pace and, after Danny Gray kicked an early three points on his Premiership debut, they scored the first try through Miles Benjamin.

The pacy winger made a great break down the left wing and he was able to touch down in the corner a couple of phases later after he wasn't held in the tackle.

Quins worked their way back into the game though and, after the forwards won a penalty from a good driving maul, Nick Evans duly dispatched the ball through the posts to reduce the arrears.

There was then a prolonged stoppage due to a head injury to Marcel Garvey, who found himself on the wrong end of a bulldozing run from Nick Easter.

The delay did not halt the home side's momentum though and, after another superb driving maul was dragged down just short of the line, the referee promptly awarded a penalty try and sent Ed Shervington to the sin bin.

Despite concerted pressure from Harlequins, the Worcester defence held firm to ensure they were just 10-8 behind at the break.

Evans and Gray exchanged penalties shortly after the interval and although Quins continued to operate on the front foot, they were still unable to penetrate the Warriors' defence for much of the second half.

Evans did add another three points just after the hour mark though to keep the scoreboard ticking over but Gray replied in kind before long to keep his team within touching distance.

Harlequins' Kiwi fly-half missed a couple of opportunities to put the match beyond doubt but the men from the Stoop held on to record their thirteenth victory of the season and consolidate their position atop the Premiership table.

Final Score Harlequins 16 (10) Worcester 14 (8)

Scorers

Harlequins
Tries:Penalty
Penalties: Evans 3
Conversions: Evans

Worcester
Tries: Benjamin
Penalties: Gray 3

Referee: David Rose (97th Premiership game)

Teams

Harlequins

15. Mike Brown , 14. Tom Williams , 13. George Lowe , 12. Tom Casson , 11. Ugo Monye , 10. Nick Evans , 9. Danny Care, 8. Nick Easter, 7. Luke Wallace , 6. Tom Guest , 5. George Robson (C) , 4. Ollie Kohn, 3. James Johnston, 2. Chris Brooker ,1. Joe Marler

Replacements :16. Joe Gray , 17. Mark Lambert , 18. Tim Fairbrother , 19. Tomas Vallejos , 20. Will Skinner , 21. Karl Dickson , 22. Rory Clegg , 23. Ross Chisholm

Worcester

15 Chris Pennell , 14 Marcel Garvey , 13 Alex Grove , 12 Dale Rasmussen , 11 Miles Benjamin , 10 Danny Gray , 9 Shaun Perry (c) , , 1 Matt Mullan , 2 Ed Shervington , 3 Tevita Taumoepeau , 4 James Percival , 5 Chris Jones , 6 Sam Betty , 7 Jake Abbott , 8 Blair Cowan ,

Replacements , 16 Aleki Lutui , 17 George Porter , 18 Oliver Tomaszczyk , 19 Craig Gillies , 20 Matt Kvesic , 21 Jonny Arr , 22 Ravai Fatiaki , 23 Errie Claassen