WARRIORS.

5 Pennell – spurned two scoring opportunities as he put in a grubber kick when he should have fed Heem and failed to find the hands of Lewis who was in space on the wing.

5 Heem – an off-day for the wing who ran into heavy traffic without causing any real damage and conceded far too many turnovers but did deny Mulipola a try.

4 Venter – the match seemed to pass him by as he rarely got his hands on the ball. The centre was eventually replaced by Lawrence in a bid to find a breakthrough.

4 Mills – tried to make things happen but was unable to spark his side into life and did not help matters when he either coughed up the ball or missed tackles.

5 Howe – did well to gather an early high ball under pressure but was starved of the ball and was brushed aside by Flood when he scored in the corner.

4 Weir – was carelessly penalised for offside in the build-up to Falcons’ first try, managed the game poorly and looked devoid of ideas in attack.

5 Hougaard – produced the odd good kick out of hand and held firm in defence but there was not enough urgency in his play to get Warriors moving.

5 Waller – got the edge on Munipola in the first scrum and Weir landed the resultant penalty but contributed little in the loose and soon made way for Black.

Singleton – suffered an injury to his elbow in the opening quarter of an hour and Worcester missed him as his replacement Miller had a torrid time at the lineout.

6 Schonert – did his job in the scrum as he outmuscled Lockwood on a couple of occasions but was penalised moments before Flood touched down for Newcastle’s second try.

4 Bresler – put in a monster hit on Flood that forced him to lose the ball but the lock’s discipline let him down and dropped a great chance to score when he was fed by Fatialofa.

5 Fatialofa – made a couple of breaks and got a lineout steal but his defensive error opened up a gap for Kibirige to shoot through and finish.

6 HILL – was one of only a few players that had a decent showing as he kept plugging away and made a clean break at the start of the second half. My man of the match.

6 Lewis – can also hold his head up high as he competed hard at the breakdown and got himself in a good position to score only to see Pennell’s pass go astray.

5 Mama – played with intent but came up against a well-organised defence as he went sideways or backwards rather than forwards. He suffered a blow to his head in the second half.

Replacements: Miller 4 (Singleton 14), Lawrence 6 (Venter 50), Lance 6 (Weir 50), Cox 5 (Mama 57), Phillips (Fatialofa 60), Black (Waller 60), Milasinovich (Schonert 60), Heaney (Hougaard 71).

Attendance: 8,005.

Referee: W Barnes.

Falcons: Hammersley; Kibirige, Harris, Williams (Matavesi 75), Sinoti; Flood, Takulua; Lockwood, McGuigan (Cooper 63), Mulipola (Wilson 71), Green, Davidson, Welch, Graham, Chick (Nagusa 63). Replacements not used: Brocklebank, Witty, Stuart, Connon.

RUN OF PLAY.

5-0: Kibirige try, 6mins.

7-0: Flood conv, 7mins.

7-3: Weir penalty, 10mins.

10-3: Flood penalty, 14mins.

10-6: Weir penalty, 23mins.

15-6: Flood try, 32mins.

17-6: Flood conv, 33mins.

Half-time: Newcastle Falcons 17-6 Worcester Warriors.

Full-time: Newcastle Falcons 17-6 Worcester Warriors.