Worcester coach Mike Ruddock insisted his side had the better of their uninspiring 12-12 stalemate with Bath at Sixways.

A late penalty from Willie Walker gave the home side a deserved share of the points in their Guinness Premiership match.

It was a fair result in a hard but uninspiring game. Bath were the more enterprising side, creating more try scoring opportunities, but Worcester would have won but for vital errors at crucial times.

Ruddock said: "If it were a boxing match I think we would probably have won on points.

"They were hard to break down and sharp on the break."

Danny Grewcock came close to scoring for the more creative Bath with Ruddock saying: "It was a fantastic try-saving tackle by Miles Benjamin and Sam Tuitupou and showed our tremendous spirit.

Tuitupou was yellow-carded after 66 minutes for a high tackle but it didn't prove crucial - though Ruddock felt it was harsh.

"I can't understand why he was yellow carded and if he was so should their player for a late challenge on Pat Sanderson when he chipped ahead."

Worcester rarely looking like breaking down Bath, with Ruddock admitting: "We couldn't find the killer blow to put them away.

"We had a couple of purple patches but we didn't take advantage. Willie Walker hit the post with a penalty and then was narrowly wide with a drop goal but we had to be more clinical."

His Bath counterpart, Steve Meehan, said: "We had a couple of chances with six minutes to go.

"We should have drilled it into the corners and then we would have had the chance to win it. However without looking at the stats it appeared to me that we spent a lot of time in our half under pressure.

"We could do with a bit more creativity and we will have to work on that."

Worcester lock Craig Gillies was man of the match and Meehan conceded: "The Worcester line-out gave us a difficult time both in attack and defence but I thought we shaded it in the scrum."

Bath were without eleven players with Meehan providing an injury update.

"Olly Barkley said be fit to play next week but Butch James will not be ready until January," he said.