A LAST-gasp try from Niall Annett and a conversion by Ryan Lamb gave Worcester Warriors a remarkable 29-28 victory at Bristol in the Greene King IPA Championship play-off final first leg tonight.

A late surge from Bristol, which included a try from David Lemi and a penalty from Nicky Robinson, looked to have given the hosts a lead heading to Sixways next Wednesday.

But Warriors, who defended stoutly in the second-half, took the honours from the last play of the game to secure a one-point advantage.

Bristol centre Gavin Henson, who kicked 10 points, was carried off on a stretcher with a fractured shin after a midfield collision late in the tie.

Warriors led 22-17 at the interval after a breathtaking opening 40 minutes when Bristol had two props sin-binned.

Henson’s 35-metre penalty fired the hosts 3-0 ahead and he was narrowly off target with a long-range effort.

Worcester, with the edge up-front, took the lead from a driving line-out finished off by Sam Betty, called into the starting line-up owing to the late withdrawal of Sam Lewis due to the death of his father.

But Bristol hit back and Mitch Eadie took a flat pass from Henson to race under the posts for a try, which the Welshman converted.

Worcester stepped up a gear and prop Gaston Cortes was shown a yellow card for an offence at the breakdown.

The Sixways side opted for a scrum and, when the visitors drove Bristol off the ball, referee Wayne Barnes awarded a penalty try.

Ryan Lamb kicked the conversion and Bristol were reduced to 13 men when a succession of scrums collapsed and Anthony Perenise was sent to the sin-bin.

With Bristol two players short, Cooper Vuna demonstrated his quality to take an offload from Jonathan Thomas and glide over in the corner.

Lamb, who struggled badly with his place-kicking, was off target with a penalty as Worcester remained dominant in the forwards.

But Bristol profited from poor Warriors tackling as Eadie barged through and former Worcester player Lemi was on hand to cross in the corner before Henson’s conversion made it 17-17.

But the first-half drama continued and Tom Biggs ran on to a pass from Lamb to dive over.

Lamb missed the conversion as Warriors edged ahead 22-17 at the break.

Not surprisingly, the second-half struggled to match the high-octane spectacle of the first period.

Chris Pennell’s long-distance penalty drifted wide before Henson struck from distance to bring the hosts within two points.

A breathtaking run from Bristol full-back Jack Wallace was halted by Lamb as the hosts piled on the pressure.

Henson missed his first penalty of the evening before he was taken off on a stretcher after a midfield collision.

Bristol finished strongly with Lemi dotting down after a fumble from Vuna and Robinson’s penalty edging them ahead.

But Worcester snatched victory at the death to set up a titanic tussle at Sixways next week.

Warriors: Pennell; Biggs, Grove, Mills, Vuna (Howard 75); Lamb, Bruzulier; Ruskin (Bower 62), Creevy (Annett 76), Schonert (Rees 72) Thomas, Percival (Senatore 64), Williams, Betty, van Velze. Not used: Shillcock, Fatiaki.

Attendance: 12,010.