Worcester Warriors Under 18s slipped to a 24-14 defeat at the hands of Sale Sharks Under 18s in the Aviva Premiership Under 18 Academy League at Carrington Road.
A hat-trick from winger Callum Owen gave the home side victory after Warriors had opened up an early lead through Justin Clegg.
But Sale added two more tries in the second-half despite one for Warriors' Jacob Ham as the hosts held on for the victory and denied Mark Hewitt's side a bonus point.
Warriors were rattled straight from kick-off when captain Ben Fowles took a hit and had to be taken off for a head injury assessment.
A physical game quickly ensued with a number of closely contested scrums.
Warriors took the lead after 15 minutes when Clegg went blindside from the driving lineout to power down in the corner and Sam Hollingsworth added a fine conversion.
Sale clawed their way back, working through the phases and finding winger Owen who slipped through the defence to score on the outside with Alex Burrage converting to level the scores.
And it was the home side who scored again moments later after a lineout drive turned into a try down the centre for Owen who bagged his second.
Warriors pressed towards half-time with Tom Dodd making a strong run and the youngsters winning two turnovers from opposition scrums but with no scores to show for their efforts.
Warriors started the second period brightly and thought they had taken the lead after quickly moving the ball out wide, but the referee awarded Sale a scrum for a knock-on.
They continued to attack with the impressive Clegg playing a through-the-legs pass to set up another advance but the ball was turned over.
Sale extended their lead after Hollingsworth tried to make the most of numbers out wide but his pass was intercepted by Owen who ran almost the length of the field to score for his hat-trick.
Warriors soon got back into the contest after the backs combined in a neat attacking move and Ham pounced on Alex Hearle’s chip over the top to touch down.
But again the defence was unable to withstand Sale pressure and Ben Curry powered over the tryline for their fourth score to seal victory.
Academy Forwards Development Coach Ceri Jones said: “We’re disappointed with the result having played some really good rugby but we should have made it harder for Sale to score.
“Our set-piece and scrum held firm and we had some excellent passages in attack but we gave them a couple of easy tries.
“We need to win our next two games now to secure our place at Finals Day which the boys deserve after their work this season.”
Warriors Under 18s sit fifth in the table after two wins and two draws but are only a point behind second place as they look to bounce back with a win at Northampton Saints Under 18s this Saturday.
Click here to see the league table.
Warriors U18: 15 Alex Nisbet, 14 Alex Hearle, 13 Robbie Smith, 12 Will Butler, 11 Blake Edwards, 10 Sam Hollingsworth, 9 George Wooton; 1 James Page, 2 Bec Cutting, 3 Nick Rigby, 4 Lawrence Weston, 5 Justin Clegg, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Tom Ford, 8 Ben Fowles (C)
Replacements: 16 George Newman, 17 Ben Davies-Moore, 18 Freddie Hemmingway, 19 James Scott, 20 Tom Dodd, 21 Jacob Ham, 22 Ollie Allsopp, 23 Max Craven
Timeline:
15m: Clegg try 0-5
16m: Hollingsworth con 0-7
25m: Owen try 7-7
26m: Burrage con 7-7
30m: Owen try 12-7
46m: Owen try 17-7
47m: Burrage con 19-7
48m: Ham try 19-12
49m: Alsopp con 19-14
53m: Curry try 24-14