A LAST-gasp try from Tom Howe saw Worcester Warriors salvage a losing bonus point from a 24-21 defeat to Sale Sharks in their Anglo-Welsh Cup opener at Sixways tonight.

Two tries in the final 10 minutes of the first half put Sharks in control at Sixways as they led 21-7 at the break while Warriors’ line-out struggled all evening.

But Worcester battled back with youngster Ollie Lawrence making an impact off the bench.

The under 18s ace marked his debut with a try before setting up Howe for an 80th-minute score.

The visitors, who named 10 first-team players in their starting line-up, quickly got on the front foot and did not take long to cross the whitewash.

After debutant Beck Cutting overcooked his first line-out throw, Worcester found themselves under the cosh.

Luke James was held up over the line before Sale’s pressure told with TJ Ioane touching down from a catch and drive on six minutes.

AJ MacGinty’s conversion went in off the post to give Sharks a 7-0 lead.

But Warriors hit back seven minutes later following a slick move down the left engineered by full-back Bryce Heem.

The fit-again Kiwi broke and fed Dean Hammond who passed inside for Michael Dowsett to stroll through and score.

Tom Heathcote converted to draw Worcester level.

Warriors were then forced to defend for a long period and they appeared to be doing a decent job at keeping Sale at bay.

Christian Scotland-Williamson denied Cameron Redpath a try with a thumping tackle on the youngster.

But out of the blue Sale got their second try on the half-hour mark.

Ben Curry broke free from a maul and fed Will Cliff who went over. MacGinty added the extras.

Back rower Curry and scrum-half Cliff then combined again on the stroke of half-time to extend Sale’s lead further.

MacGinty offloaded to Curry who burst through before linking up with Cliff who returned the favour for the flanker to go in near the posts.

And MacGinty landed the simple conversion to leave Warriors trailing 21-7 at the break.

But Sale’s ill-discipline gave the hosts a chance of a fightback.

After six penalties in the first 16 minutes of the second period, referee Greg MacDonald lost patience as he sent prop James Flynn to the sin-bin.

Warriors’ faltering line-out was stopping them from turning pressure into points as they camped out in Sharks’ half. But on 62 minutes they got the required break.

Howe latched onto Heathcote’s kick and went charging forward before replacement Lawrence collected a loose ball and crashed over.

Heathcote converted to close the gap to 21-14.

But Sale, still with a man down, responded well as Andrew Kitchener pulled off a try-saving tackle on Josh Charnley.

MacGinty slotted home a penalty on 76 minutes after Huw Taylor was penalised for a tackle without the ball and it proved crucial.

Warriors struck in the last minute when Sam Olver converted after Howe went over from Lawrence’s pass but they fell three points short.

Warriors: Heem; Howe, Stelling, Butler, Hammond; Heathcote, Dowsett; Milasinovich, Cutting, Schonert, Scotland-Williamson, Barry, Taylor, Durutalo, Dodd. Replacements: Jeavons-Fellows, Rigby, Kerrod, Kitchener, Hill, Baldwin, Olver, Lawrence.

Sharks: James; Reed, Addison, Redpath, Charnley; MacGinty, Cliff; Flynn, Neild, John, Nott, Postlethwaite, Ioane, Curry, Moore. Replacements: Langdon, Pope, Aulika, Seymour, Dolly, Sturgess, Wilkinson, Doherty.

Attendance: 6,081.