ACADEMY coach Gordon Ross was proud of his “makeshift” Worcester Cavaliers side after they dug deep to salvage two bonus points from a 31-26 defeat to Newcastle Falcons at Sixways.

Falcons threatened to run out comfortable winners in the Premiership Rugby Shield opener as they burst into an early 14-0 lead before opening up a healthy 19-point cushion with 11 minutes to go.

But Worcester who scrummaged superbly all night fought back with a penalty try and a late breakaway score from Ervin Muric who was one of six Hartpury players in action for the hosts last night.

“I am immensely proud of the boys,” Ross said.

“It was a mixed group with guys coming in at the last minute for one reason or another.

“But they put a massive shift in.

“Some of them were playing their first game for the club and they did themselves really proud with their performance.

“We had some experience in the front five and we were quite dominant (in the scrum) but unfortunately we could not take our opportunities which was probably down to our makeshift back-line.

“They did some excellent bits and pieces but we weren’t quite clinical enough as a group.”

Ross was also disappointed Cavaliers failed to make their numerical advantage count when Falcons lost Tom Hicks and then Zach Kibirige following yellow cards.

“We were pretty poor when they had 14 men,” Ross said.

“We got on the wrong side of the referee for the first time they had a man in the sin-bin and we could not capitalise on it.”

Luke Baldwin was named captain and was among nine first-team players in the Cavaliers squad but it was the visitors who were more accurate with ball in hand.

Falcons opened the scoring on five minutes when they exploited space out wide with Kibirige finding number eight Tom Marshall to finish in the corner.

Some sluggish tackling then allowed Newcastle in for a second try as Kibirige broke through before combining with James Elliott to score. Brett Connon converted both to put Falcons in command.

While Cavaliers were struggling in open play they were dominant up front and used their superior forward pack to great effect on 17 minutes.

Matt Cox peeled off the back of a driving maul to get Worcester off the mark before Luke Scully missed the conversion.

With tighthead prop Gareth Milasinovich turning the screw in the scrum Falcons kept giving penalties away before the referee finally lost patience and sent Hicks to the sin-bin.

But it was Newcastle who struck during the 10-minute period as Connon landed a penalty on 36 minutes.

Kibirige was also yellow carded at the start of the second half for a high tackle to hand Cavaliers a further chance to claw their way back.

And Worcester soon reduced their arrears as lock Rob Fuller charged down Connon’s kick before his Hartpury teammate Joe Margetts pounced to score. Scully added the extras.

Cavaliers were back in it at 17-12 but Falcons then scored two converted tries to put themselves on the brink of victory.

Kibirige bagged the first of those after being teed up brilliantly by Dominic Waldouck before hooker Jamie Blamire raced home from 30 metres out after Cavaliers messed up a line-out at the other end.

But with fresh legs in the front row including summer signing Farai Mudariki Worcester overpowered Falcons before earning a penalty try.

They then got within five points of Falcons as Sam Hollingsworth raced away before feeding Muric to score near the posts with Scully converting.

Worcester Cavaliers: Heward 7; Howe 6, Hammond 6 (Hollingsworth 57, 6), Margetts 6 (Muric 59, 7), Tonks 6; Scully 5, Baldwin 5 (Heaney 40, 6); Owen 8 (Rigby 32-38, 69), Cutting 8 (Liney 69), MILASINOVICH 8 (Mudariki 69), Scott 7, Fuller 7 (Katjijeko), Hill 6 (Macartney 40, 6), Xiourouppa 6, Cox 6.

STAR MAN: Gareth Milasinovich – Not only did the tighthead prop scrummage well but also carried strongly and gave his all in defence as he notably forced ex-Warriors full-back Tom Arscott to knock-on following a huge tackle.