Warriors Under 18s picked up their first win of the Premiership Rugby Under 18 Academy League as they pipped Leicester Tigers Under 18s 27-26 in a thrilling encounter at Sixways on Saturday.
In an exhilarating back-and-forth game, captain Ted Hill's try gave Warriors the lead but Tigers replied through James Martin to level the scores midway through the first-half.
Alex Forrester then scored ten points in two minutes, kicking a penalty before scoring a try of his own which he duly converted, as Worcester took a commanding 17-7 lead into half-time.
Josh Fenner and Will Findlay scored quickly at the start of the second-half to put Tigers in the ascendancy but Alex Bartley crossed the line to put Warriors back in front by three points.
The game swung again when Tigers full-back Ryan Olonofela broke through to score as Leicester led in the closing stages but there was one final twist in store when replacement Cameron Harrison drove over the line in the corner to secure the narrowest of wins for Warriors.
Tigers started on the front foot in the opening minutes with George Hawkes forced to cover smartly to halt an overlap on the right wing and prevent Warriors falling behind early on.
The tackle inspired Warriors into life and they pressed on to score the opener in impressive fashion shortly after.
Fluent passing and potent attacking made impressive ground, and Forrester's intelligent chip in the centre was met by Hill to collect for a try under the posts.
Forrester's boot was clinical again as he slotted the conversion but Hawkes was needed again after the restart to haul down a powerful Tigers drive just short of the line.
After ten minutes of being camped in their own 22, Warriors were finally breached when Martin went over the line and Tom Hardwick's conversion levelled the tie.
Following the try, Warriors dug in and their physicality and aggression was forcing Tigers to concede penalties which Ollie Lawrence used well to get the home team up the pitch.
Tigers then conceded a penalty following Lawrence's spin-and-run, which allowed Forrester to kick Worcester back into the lead, and the stand-off’s scoring for the half wasn’t done there.
Warriors drove forward once again and forced another penalty that Forrester took quickly to run over the tryline, and he added the conversion to open up a ten-point lead.
Chim Gale would have been very pleased with his team's first-half performance but wouldn’t have been too impressed with their slow start in the second, as they were heavily punished by an interception try for Fenner, converted by Hardwick.
And Findlay made the most of an overlap to turn the match in Tigers' favour just seven minutes into the second period.
Warriors' forward pack battled to haul themselves back into the game, driving at mauls and scrums to take a foothold once again.
The potency in attack was soon rewarded with another try and the lead, as another good passing move allowed Lawrence to offload for Bartley to go over unopposed.
Approaching the final five minutes, Martin charged through the gain-line before eventually passing to Olonofela to power over the line and Hardwick converted to take what seemed to be a match-winning score.
But the game had one more swing in momentum, as Warriors scored a crucial fourth try of their own when an unstoppable driving maul allowed Harrison to dot down.
In the final play, Tigers probed and pushed, attempting to overturn the narrow deficit, but a resolute Warriors defence held on to secure their first win of the campaign.
Warriors Academy Backs Development Coach Gordon Ross praised his side after their victory.
He said: "We spent long periods in our own 22 but the resilience of the boys to keep them out at times was exceptional, and to only concede seven points in the first-half was excellent.
"We challenged ourselves to improve on last week, particularly in attack, and we scored a couple of cracking tries which was pleasing to see."
Warriors now turn their attention to next Saturday where they face Yorkshire Carnegie Under 18s at Shaw Lane.
Timeline
06m | Hill try 5-0
07m | Forrester con 7-01
17m | Martin try 7-5
18m | Hardwick con 7-7
31m | Forrester pen 10-7
33m | Forrester try 15-7
34m | Forrester con 17-7
42m | Fenner try 17-12
43m | Hardwick con 17-14
46m | Findlay try 17-19
53m | Bartley try 22-19
63m | Olonofela try 22-24
64m | Hardwick con 22-26
67m | Harrison try 22-27
Warriors | 15 Nick David, 14 Christophe Fostier, 13 Alex Bartley (Haisila Lokotui 57), 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Dion King, 10 Alex Forrester (Jackson 43), 9 George Hawkes; 1 Nick Rigby (Sutton 59), 2 Beck Cutting (Harrison 59), 3 Kai Owen (Baggs 42), 4 Lawrence Weston, 5 James Scott, 6 Ollie Richardson, 7 Oli Thorneywork (Fawcett 35), 8 Ted Hill (C)
Replacements | 16 Cameron Harrison, 17 Will Sutton, 18 Max Baggs, 19 Tom Fawcett, 20 George Butler, 21 Tom Williams, 22 Louis Jackson, 23 Navarre Haisila Lokotui