Fly-half James Brown booted Worcester to a priceless victory in their Zurich Premiership relegation clash with Harlequins at The Stoop.

The former England under-21 international slotted five penalties as Worcester - who leap three places up the table - used the wind and their clear superiority up front to crank up the pressure in a one-sided second half.

Quins were given a torrid time at the set-piece - the Warriors' scrum did enormous damage - and paid the price for their indiscipline by finding themselves on the wrong end of referee Chris White's whistle all afternoon.

There was little imagination from either side but Worcester's gameplan after the interval was spot-on, playing the game in Quins' half with Brown taking the points on offer.

Many home fans gave their verdict on a lifeless display from Mark Evans' side by leaving the ground 10 minutes early, although they missed an injury-time penalty from Jeremy Staunton which salvaged a bonus point.

Worcester drew first blood with a Brown penalty after using a series of infringements from Quins to work their way deep into enemy territory but the score was levelled through Staunton in the 14th minute.

Staunton's kick was a poor return given that Quins had threatened to cross after Gavin Duffy's break had swept his side five metres from the Warriors' line and his forwards had battered away to make the remaining yards.

Duffy nearly breached the visitors' defence in the 22nd minute after following Staunton's jinking run and taking a short pass at full tilt - only the perfect timing of Worcester's cover kept him out, inches short.

The blustery conditions were making kicking tricky - Staunton missed one simple touch finder - but there were no excuses for the other blunders which were severely reducing the entertainment value of the match.

Staunton landed another penalty from 40 metres out and neither team looked remotely capable of scoring a try as the forwards scrapped it out up front.

Quins' Tony Diprose and Warriors' Craig Gillies swung a few punches at each over one hotly-contested ruck but nothing connected and referee Chris White let them off with a warning.

Worcester centre Dale Rasmussen broke through with a clear run to the line five minutes into first-half injury time but White had spotted a forward pass from Scotland winger Ben Hinshelwood and called back play.

Quins had trouble clearing their own line in the 51st minute as the visitors applied massive pressure at a five-metre scrum and the ball had to be worked to Duffy before it was thumped into touch.

The respite did not last long, however, as Worcester won a penalty which Brown - with the wind behind him - steered between the posts from a tricky angle to level the score once again.

Worcester upped the tempo in the second half with Drew Hickey setting off on a bullocking run which was halted under the posts and Quins strayed off-side at the breakdown, handing Brown another three points.

A 20-metre rolling maul from Quins gave home supporters something to cheer but the good work was undone by conceding a penalty and Evans' side come under further pressure following a shocking pass from Tom Williams.

The full-back dashed into space but fired a very risky off-load to Duffy who was collared by Rasmussen and went on to incur the wrath of White with Brown taking the three points on offer.

Brown slootted his fifth penalty after the Warriors had pushed them back 15-metres in a scrum but Staunton still had time to grab the bonus point, although his team will be bottom of the table should Northampton beat Wasps on Sunday.