Bristol's bid for Aviva Premiership survival suffered a crushing blow at Sixways as their relegation rivals Worcester cruised to a 41-24 victory.
Match Stats
Worcester tries: Penalty (2), Hougaard (21), Spencer (33), Heem (38, 63), Olivier (79)
Penalties/Conversions: Mills (2, 6, 21, 33, 38)
Bristol tries: Woodward (24), Crumpton (68), Varndell (72)
Penalties/Conversions: Henson (18, 24), Woodward (68, 72)
Match Report
Bristol's bid for Aviva Premiership survival suffered a crushing blow at Sixways as their relegation rivals Worcester cruised to a 41-24 victory.
The Warriors had a bonus point secured by half-time following a penalty try, plus touchdowns from scrum-half Francois Hougaard, lock Will Spencer and wing Bryce Heem, while Ryan Mills added four conversions and a penalty.
Bristol, two points behind 11th-placed Worcester before kick-off, are now seven adrift at the basement, and three of their remaining five games this season are against title contenders Wasps, Exeter and Saracens.
A return to the Championship after just one season back in English rugby's top flight now looks likely, yet they could have few complaints after being horribly outplayed, despite full-back Jason Woodward's try and a Gavin Henson penalty and conversion briefly giving them hope.
Heem added a second touchdown midway through the second period and centre Wynand Olivier posted a sixth try in the final minute, while Bristol's replacement hooker Max Crumpton and wing Tom Varndell claimed consolation scores - Woodward and Jack Wallace converted - but the damage had long been done.
South African star Hougaard ran the show for Worcester, capitalising repeatedly on woeful Bristol defending as the Warriors delivered arguably their most dominant 40-minute display of the campaign before a second Heem try underlined Worcester's superiority and Olivier rubbed salt into a gaping Bristol wound.
Worcester made a late change in their starting line-up, with hooker Joe Taufete'e replacing Niall Arnett, who failed a late fitness test. Bristol, meanwhile, showed one switch from last weekend, with prop Anthony Perenise being ruled out due to a hamstring injury and Gaston Cortes being handed a start.
The game began in dramatic fashion as Worcester were awarded a penalty try after just 68 seconds.
Warriors skipper Donncha O'Callaghan was driven to within inches of Bristol's line, only to be illegally halted by Dan Tuohy, and referee Wayne Barnes had no hesitation in giving the penalty try, with Mills converting.
Tuohy was also sin-binned, and Bristol were all over the place during a frantic opening that saw Mills increase Worcester's lead through a sixth-minute penalty.
Bristol initially struggled to get out of their own half, yet on their first excursion into Worcester territory, Warriors had Heem sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on prop Ryan Bevington, and Henson kicked a penalty that opened the visitors' account.
Worcester, though, resumed normal service just two minutes later after Bristol hooker Marc Jones overthrew a lineout and Hougaard accepted the gift before sprinting 35 metres without any defender touching him, and Mills' conversion made it 17-3.
The game's frantic nature continued at pace, and with Worcester still a player down, Bristol took advantage following close-range pressure as scrum-half Alby Mathewson's pass found Woodward, who breached weak tackling for a try that Henson converted.
But it was only a temporary reprieve for Bristol as Worcester posted two converted tries during the closing six minutes of an ultimately one-sided first period.
Spencer powered over for the first after Worcester's forwards spread-eagled their opposite numbers from close range, then a stunning Hougaard break sent him clear in space before he delivered a scoring pass to Heem.
Mills kicked both conversions, and Worcester trooped off 31-10 ahead with a try-scoring bonus point already in the bag.
Bristol enjoyed territorial supremacy during the third quarter - Varndell went close to scoring in the corner - yet Worcester's defence held firm as they looked to consolidate on their impressive first-half work.
And Heem's second try 16 minutes from time sealed the deal, putting Worcester within sight of Premiership safety and pushing Bristol closer to the drop as they remained in 12th place - a Premiership position they have occupied since mid-September - despite late scores by Crumpton and Varndell.
Match Reaction
Mark Tainton admitted Bristol let themselves down with the head coach saying: "If you look at Worcester's early scores, they didn't do an awful lot for them. It was our ill-discipline that allowed them to score the points.
"I don't think the occasion got to the players.
"We fought back throughout the game and right to the very end, trying to play rugby and get a bonus point, but we ended up turning the ball over and they scored another try.
"We are not going to give in. We have made it more difficult for ourselves going forward, but no-one gave us a chance to beat Bath last week, and we turned them over.
"We let ourselves down today and we let the supporters down.
"It's disappointing, but there is no way this team is going to give in until it is mathematically impossible to stay up, and come the Gloucester game (on March 24), we will be fighting for every inch.
"I take my hat off to Worcester. They played very well and put us under a lot of pressure. We were playing catch-up rugby throughout the game."
Bristol skipper Jordan Crane added: "We are willing to fight and scrap for everything. It's not done.
"There is still plenry of rugby to play and plenty of points to play for. We've got to see where we went wrong today and fix those things pretty quickly."
Warriors rugby director Gary Gold said: "By and large, we were very good. We made good decisions at the breakdown, and it was a pleasing day.
"There is some quality in the side, and maybe all these guys really needed was a bit of belief. They are a good team.
"Absolutely, there is still a long way to go, and what Bristol do now is out of out of our control.
"We are still 11th in the league, and we need to continue to improve with five games left."
Gold, meanwhile, paid tribute to Hougaard, adding: "He was outstanding, but I think he will be the first to admit that he had a great platform provided by the pack.
"He is an X-factor player. He is quite genuinely world-class, and we are very lucky to have him. With world-class players, the bigger the stage, the better they play."
