A LAST-gasp try from replacement prop Biyi Alo secured Worcester Warriors another valuable bonus point in a 36-26 Aviva Premiership defeat at Sale Sharks.

The hosts ran out convincing winners at the AJ Bell Stadium.

But Alo’s pushover try in the dying seconds sees Warriors open up an 10-point gap over basement boys Bristol, who travel to Exeter Chiefs tomorrow.

Francois Hougaard, Joe Taufete’e and Chris Pennell also went over for Warriors in a battling away display.

England centre Ben Te’o was back to boost Warriors after overcoming a head injury sustained on international duty.

But he was guilty of gifting Sale a try on seven minutes. After a sustained period of pressure from the visitors, Perry Humphreys was beaten to a high ball and Te’o made a handling error.

Denny Solomona was then on hand to power through before feeding Sam James who touched down under the posts. AJ MacGinty added the extras.

But Warriors hit back four minutes later with a well-worked try. Humphreys broke down the right wing before finding Te’o who passed inside for Hougaard to score. Ryan Mills landed the easy conversion to bring the scores level.

Sale looked to respond and had Warriors pinned back, but ill-discipline allowed Warriors to clear before earning a penalty at the other end.

Worcester had chances to go for goal, but their decision to go for the corner paid dividends as hooker Taufete’e was dragged over following a driving line-out, with Mills converting.

The see-saw first-half continued as Sale got back on level terms on 29 minutes thanks to a slice of luck. James’ grubber kick bounced off Jackson Willison’s knee and the ball fell kindly for the centre who went over for his second try. MacGinty added the extras.

The home side had their tails up and went over moments before the break. Mike Haley sliced though Warriors’ defence, slipping off a couple of tackles before dotting down. MacGinty converted to give the hosts a 21-14 lead at the interval.

Straight after the interval, Haley was sent flying again after collecting MacGinty’s pass, but Pen- nell dragged his opposite number down.

After a tense 10-minute spell with both teams trading kicks, Warriors came agonisingly close to scoring.

A long, sweeping pass from Mills was gobbled up by Pennell. He then fed Humphreys who smashed his way over, but after going to the video official it was found the wing was held up.

Warriors appeared to be more resilient in the second half as they thwarted Sale’s attacks, but were undone by a moment of in- spiration from Bryon McGuigan on 64 minutes.

The wing gathered a pass from Josh Beaumont before rounding Pennell with a delightful chip to score. MacGinty failed to convert.

A yellow card for Sharks’ Halani Aulika gave Warriors hope and a try from Pennell, converted by Ryan Lamb, reduced the deficit to 26-21.

But Sale hit back with a penalty from MacGinty and then Ben Curry went over for a converted try to put the hosts 36-21 ahead.

Sale’s Mike Phillips was yellow-carded before Alo burrowed over at the death to snatch a vital fourth try for Warriors.

Warriors: Pennell; Humphreys, Willison, Te'o, Adams (Olivier 74); Mills (Lamb 65), Hougaard (Baldwin); Bower (Grant 62), Taufete'e, Schonert (Alo 71), O'Callaghan (C) (Barry 71), Spencer, Vui (Potgieter 70), Lewis, Mama. Replacement not used: Bregvadze.

Attendance: 5,966.