Thinus Delport believes Worcester can see ``a faint bit of light'' in the bid for Guinness Premiership survival after his try double sunk Bath at Sixways.

Worcester remain adrift at the Premiership basement, but they are now just four points behind 11th-placed Northampton.

Saints have a game in hand on the Warriors - away to title contenders Bristol later this month - yet Delport and company still hold a fighting chance of extending their top-flight status into a fourth season.

He said: ``We are still bottom of the table, but this win just gets us that little bit closer. We can see a faint bit of light, and that keeps the hopes up.

``We realise we are in dire straits, and we realise we have got to go out fighting in every game, which is what we want to do.

``Gaining our first home league win of the season gives us a slight boost. It means a lot to us and the supporters.''

Warriors' Premiership home form before this weekend - one draw and seven defeats - has undermined their league campaign, but Bath's away record is even worse, with a 10th successive domestic loss on the road earning a stinging blastfrom head coach Steve Meehan.

``I am bitterly disappointed,'' said Meehan, following the 21-15 reversal.

``Our set-piece didn't function, and we gave away too many turnovers. You cannot expect to win games if that happens.

``Not winning away from home has started to annoy the hell out of us. It is inexplicable, really.

``We talked all week about attacking Worcester's defensive pattern, and we did that for 10 of the 80 minutes, then we played into their hands.''

England forwards coach John Wells looked on as Bath's Test locks Danny Grewcock and Steve Borthwick were given a torrid time in the lineouts by uncapped 6ft 8in Warriors forward Craig Gillies - an achievement not lost on Worcester rugby director John Brain.

``Bath have a strong set-piece, and I thought the key to the game was that we managed to undermine them in those areas,'' said Brain.

``We dismantled their lineout, which not many teams manage to do. We gave ourselves a good platform up front, although I was disappointed we took our foot off the pedal after scoring our second try.''

``There is a four-point gap now, and it is possible for us to turn that around. We play Sale, who are struggling a little bit, next Friday, then we are at home against Newcastle the following Friday.

``I would have to say they are winnable games for Worcester - they are vital games for us.''

Northampton slipped up 7-5 at home to Gloucester, whose head coach Dean Ryan began a 13-week touchline ban by watching the action from a television gantry at Franklin's Gardens.

Saints led for more than an hour after hooker Dylan Hartley's early try, but were then undone by a superb James Simpson-Daniel score before Willie Walker landed a match-winning touchline conversion.

Northampton boss Paul Grayson said: ``Ultimately, it was a one-on-one line-break that made the difference, and I can't really fault us for the effort we put in.

``Gloucester are as good a side as there is in the league, and if we keep on playing like that, we will be hard to beat.''

Newcastle continue to flirt with relegation danger after their inconsistency again surfaced through a 38-12 defeat at London Irish - just a week after the Falcons crushed Wasps 37-11.

Newcastle rugby director John Fletcher said: ``Our attitude and application in the first-half was just terrible.

``You know you're having a bad day when (full-back) Matt Burke drops the ball twice, which I've never seen in the three years he has been at the club.''

Shane Geraghty was the architect of Irish's victory, claiming two tries in his 23-point haul, while there were also touchdowns for Tonga Lea'aetoa, Robbie Russell and Seilala Mapusua.

Leicester kept themselves top of the Premiership pile through a 27-22 victory over Welford Road visitors Harlequins, but it required the arrival of England forwards Martin Corry and George Chuter as second-half substitutes to turn things around.

Tigers head coach Pat Howard said: ``We didn't touch the ball for the first 35 minutes. It was important to see if the players could dig themselves out of the hole, and we dealt with the personnel when we realised they couldn't.''

Leicester prevailed through tries by Seru Rabeni and Dan Hipkiss, with fly-half Andy Goode kicking 17 points to leave Tigers well-placed for a home tie in the title play-offs later this season.