A LAST-gasp try in the opening Singha Sevens Series clash came back to bite Worcester Warriors as they narrowly missed out on a place in the finals.
Mark Hewitt’s young side had an indifferent afternoon at Newcastle’s Kingston Park as they thrashed Leicester Tigers before being torn apart by Newcastle Falcons.
But it was the final few moments of their first match against Sale Sharks, which turned out to be decisive in their quest for progression.
Summer signing Josh Adams looked set to get Warriors Sevens’ campaign off to the perfect start as he stormed his way to the try-line.
However, after crossing the whitewash he then dropped the ball and to make matters worse for the Wales under-20 international, Sale punished the mistake with a try from Nev Edwards.
A sin-binning allowed Worcester the chance to put the match to bed, but with time almost up Mark Jennings ran in under the posts and James Mitchell converted to tie the game.
In the end, the 19-19 draw also proved crucial to the Sharks’ qualification as they edged Warriors on points’ difference.
Despite the blow, Warriors, who made the finals of last year’s competition, looked determined to bounce back.
And they did so with a stunning showing against Leicester.
Their Midlands rivals did open the scoring when George Worth struck.
But Worcester hit back in style as Dean Hammond and George De Cothi crashed over before Perry Humphreys scored against his former club.
Young Robbie Smith then produced a try-saving tackle as he held up his man over the line before Worcester went down the other end and Will Butler went over to seal an emphatic 27-5 victory.
However, their hopes of securing their place in the next round at the Twickenham Stoop were dashed by a superb display from Newcastle Falcons.
Warriors took the lead with a try from De Cothi, but they failed to kick on, while the hosts responded with a storming fightback.
A brace from James Fleming and a try from Gavin Lowe gave the Falcons a 21-7 lead before they turned on the style in the second half.
Once again, Worcester struck first with Adams touching down, but Newcastle proved too strong as James Johnston went over.
Jamie Farndale and Mark Robertson then added further tries to complete the Falcons’ 100 per cent winning record and put the nail in Warriors’ coffin.