WORCESTER Warriors recorded a 26-14 victory against Northampton Saints at Tresham College in the Aviva Premiership Under 18 Academy League.

An early James Scott try gave Warriors a 5-0 lead at the break before two Jamie Shillcock penalties in the second-half.

Northampton bounced back with a converted try but another Shillcock penalty followed by a Bec Cutting try and a penalty try meant Warriors marched to victory.

Warriors now face Newcastle Falcons on Saturday and know a win could see them reach finals day.

The first half saw Warriors forced to defend for long periods which they did well, and they took their big opportunity from a catch-and-drive with Scott burrowing over the line early on.

Warriors soaked up the pressure till half-time to go in ahead but came out firing in the second period with some positive passages of play which led to Shillcock landing two long-range penalties.

But Saints got themselves back in it when charging down a kick to score under the posts, poising the game at 11-7.

Scrum-half Shillcock continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over with another fine penalty when Saints were penalised for not rolling away.

And another driving lineout led to replacement Bec Cutting crashing over the line as Warriors built an unassailable lead.

Then from the restart, Mark Hewitt's men piled the pressure on the hosts, forcing them into a mistake in the corner.

Saints continued to infringe close to the line and despite Shillcock diving over, the referee blew for a penalty try and Shillcock converted to make it 26-7.

Warriors took their feet off the gas at the end as Cam Tawfik and Ben Davies-Moore were sent to the bin and Northampton capitalised as the referee awarded them a penalty try to close the gap between the sides to 12 points.

But Warriors closed the game out to secure their third win in five league games.

Three Pears academy manager Hewitt said: "It was an outstanding response from the side who really worked hard for one another to get the result.

"Now we have to take that momentum into next week's clash at Sixways where we will have an opportunity of progressing to Finals Day."

Warriors: 15 Max Craven (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE), 14 Alex Hearle (Shrewsbury College), 13 Alex Nisbet (Bromsgrove School), 12 Will Butler (Hereford Cathedral), 11 Blake Edwards (Bromsgrove School), 10 Ollie Allsopp (Malvern College), 9 Jamie Shillcock; 1 Freddie Hemmingway (John Kyrle High School), 2 George Newman (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE), 3 James Page, 4 Lawrence Weston (Bromsgrove School), 5 James Scott (Malvern College), 6 Ted Hill (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE), 7 Tom Ford (C) (Bromsgrove School), 8 Tom Dodd (Warwick School).

Replacements: 16 Bec Cutting (Bromsgrove School), 17 Kai Owen (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE), 18 Ben Davies-Moore (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE), 19 Cam Tawfik (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE), 20 Jacob Ham (King's Worcester), 21 Dion King (King's Worcester), 22 Stan Maine (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE