WORCESTER Warriors swept aside Newcastle Falcons 26-0 to boost their chances of sealing a first-ever place at the Under 18 Academy League Finals Day.

Warriors are second place in the table with the top three from the Northern Conference progressing to Finals Day.

But Mark Hewitt's side will have to wait until next weekend to find out their fate as other teams have to complete their allotted fixtures.

The youngsters knew a bonus-point win was required if they were to stand a chance of making the top three and endured a testing first half against the Falcons.

But they managed to take the lead after a fine passage of play allowed Blake Edwards to cross the whitewash and Ollie Allsopp converted.

In the muddy conditions, Warriors had more opportunities to extend their lead but were unable to execute more chances before the break, leading just 7-0.

But the second-half saw them step up a gear and following a strong maul from the forwards, Sam Hollingsworth's crossfield kick found Alex Hearle, who touched down for Warriors' second and fly-half Hollingsworth added the extras with the kick.

Newcastle defended astutely until the last five minutes of the game when two Warriors scores put them to the sword.

The third try of the day came from Tom Dodd who dotted down off the back of a maul before Warriors went in a late search of a bonus-point fourth try.

And in the last spell of the game, a 90-yard, 11-phase passage of play, finished with Jack Helme diving over with Hollingsworth converting - giving Warriors the all-important bonus point.

The under 18s have managed to deny all their visiting opponents a single point this season at Sixways, after a 24-0 win over Yorkshire and this 26-0 success.

Academy outreach co-ordinator Dan Lyne said: "There was lots of energy and effort from the whole team, especially the replacements who made a real impact coming on to chase the bonus-point win.

"We showed a lot of intent in tough conditions and the result means we've put ourselves in a really good position to make Finals Day. Now we just have to wait on other results."

Warriors U18: 15 Max Craven (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE), 14 Alex Hearle (Shrewsbury College), 13 Dion King (King's Worcester), 12 Alex Nisbet (Bromsgrove School), 11 Blake Edwards (Bromsgrove School), 10 Ollie Allsopp (Malvern College), 9 Jacob Ham (King's Worcester); 1 James Page, 2 Bec Cutting (Bromsgrove School), 3 Nick Rigby (Warwick School), 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 George Newman (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE), 17 Ben Davies-Moore (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE), 18 Kai Owen (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE), 19 Charlie Morgan (Solihull School), 20 Ben Fowles (Solihull School), 21 George Wooten (Bromsgrove School), 22 Stan Maine (Worcester Sixth Form College/AASE), 23 Jack Helme (Hereford Cathedral School).

Warriors U18 results:

Warriors 24-0 Yorkshire Carnegie, Sixways.

Leicester Tigers 12-22 Warriors, Oval Park.

Warriors 22-29 Gloucester, Luctonians RFC.

Sale Sharks 24-14 Warriors, Carrington Lane.

Northampton Saints 14-26 Warriors, Tresham College.

Warriors 26-0 Newcastle Falcons, Sixways