Wasps kept their Guinness Premiership play-off hopes alive and effectively ended those of London Irish with a 22-16 win at the Madejski Stadium.

Dave Walder produced a match-winning performance, kicking five penalties and a conversion for a personal haul of 17 points and setting up Wasps' only try of the match.

London Irish got off to the perfect start with David Paice, Seilala Mapusua and Sailosi Tagicakibau working the ball around quickly before sending Peter Hewat over in only the third minute.

But Wasps responded immediately, almost crossing a number of times after sustained pressure left them pushing for the line.

Walder and Eoghan Hickey then exchanged penalties to leave the match evenly poised before Walder put Wasps one point in the lead with another two penalty kicks just before the interval.

London Irish were forced to defend right from the re-start as Wasps came back from the half-time break with renewed vigour.

The visitors quickly made their superior aggression tell when Walder produced a moment of brilliance to create acres of space before setting up former London Irish player Riki Flutey for the try.

Walder also added the conversion and another penalty.

London Irish refused to give up and Topsy Ojo set up a tense final 15 minutes when he broke from inside his own half to send Sailosi Tagicakibau over the line.

But Walder struck his fifth penalty to ensure the win for Wasps before Hickey snatched the losing bonus point with a long-range penalty one minute from time.

Harlequins 22-16 Bath

Harlequins prevented Bath from taking over top spot in the Premiership and kept their play-off dream alive with a battling win at The Stoop.

After Olly Barkley and Adrian Jarvis had kicked two penalties apiece, Quins did well to go into the break level at 6-6 having lost Tani Fuga to the sin bin in the 27th minute for fighting.

Another penalty each for both Barkley and Jarvis kept the scores level early in the second half but Harlequins finally got their breakthrough as Jarvis added a fourth penalty before Danny Care picked up a loose ball and scrambled over the line for a try.

Jarvis secured the win with a 79th-minute penalty before Michael Claassens salvaged some pride with an injury time try, and Barkley secured a losing-bonus point with the conversion.

Newcastle 8-28 Bristol

Bristol compounded Newcastle's misery by inflicting a comprehensive defeat to add to the loss of their director of rugby John Fletcher earlier in the week.

The visitors needed only 90 seconds to get the first of their tries, with Scott Linklater touching down after Shaun Perry had exposed a gaping hole in the Newcastle defence.

Ed Barnes added the conversion before Joe El Abd doubled Bristol's score 20 minutes later with a second try when he broke from the back of an attacking line-out drive.

Newcastle skipper Phil Dowson and try-scorer Linklater were both sent to the sin-bin in the 33rd minute for fighting, allowing Barnes to kick his first penalty of the day and make the score 17-0 at the interval.

The hosts finally got on the scoreboard just after the interval when Tom May gathered a loose ball and burst through Bristol's defence before sending Rob Miller over.

Miller, who missed the conversion, added a penalty shortly afterwards but Bristol quickly pulled away again when Barnes kicked his third penalty.

Bristol then rubbed salt into Falcons' wounds when Anthony Elliot intercepted Tim Visser's woeful pass to touch down in the corner.

Worcester 10-10 Leeds

Basement clubs Worcester and Leeds ensured that the relegation battle lasts at least another week with a turgid draw at Sixways.

Leeds, 14 points adrift at the bottom of the table, made a spirited start to the match when prop Mike MacDonald crashed over from an attacking line-out. Alberto Di Bernardo added the conversion to put the visitors 10-0 ahead.

But Worcester hit back, scoring first through hooker Aleki Lutui and then through winger Miles Benjamin, who dived over at the corner after a quickly recycled ruck ball.

Leeds got back on level terms with a Di Bernardo penalty just before the interval, awarded when Worcester failed to roll away from the ruck.

Despite dominating for the rest of the match, handling errors cost Worcester and Leeds managed to hold on in a scoreless second half to grab a vital two points.

Pippa Davis / Eurosport