Newcastle Falcons' survival hopes have taken a blow with a 19-9 defeat to Worcester Warriors.

Jimmy Gopperth nearly opened the scoring inside the first minute when his attempted drop goal was off target.

He didn't have to wait long to get on the scoresheet as his 12th minute penalty gave the Falcon's the lead in a tight first half.

Andy Goode struck back with a penalty of his own on 36 minutes as the sides went in 3-3 at half time.

Gopperth kicked over another penalty three minutes after the restart to put his side back in front.

However, Goode struck again two minutes later to bring the Warriors level once more.

Gopperth and Goode both hit penalties before the hour to make the scores 9-9 before Alex Grove touched down for the first try of the match on 64 minutes to hand Worcester the initiative. Goode was successful with the extras to make the score 16-9 to the hosts.

Another Goode penalty with two minutes to play was enough to kill off Newcastle's faint hopes of a comeback.