THE Guinness Premiership misery continued for Worcester as the boot of Jonny Wilkinson consigned Mike Ruddock's winless Warriors to yet another defeat.

The result may have been harsh given the three Worcester tries disallowed by referee Rob Debney and the committed nature of the Warriors' play throughout.

But the harsh truth remains that, against a lacklustre Newcastle side, they failed to take a glorious chance to record their first league win of the season.

Former Falcon Loki Crichton pulled the creative strings to good effect on his old patch but it was opposite number Wilkinson who was the bain of the visitors.

The England ace kicked all 15 of Newcastle's points, including a thunderous 45-metre drop goal to win the game eight minutes from time.

In a drab affair low on free-flowing quality from both teams, an early long-range penalty miss from Crichton proved costly as Wilkinson drilled over the opening points with a penalty of his own 10 minutes in to proceedings.

Far from feeling sorry for themselves, Worcester took the game by the scruff of the neck as they camped in the Newcastle 22' with Thinus Delport and Aleki Lutui both being held up over the try line.

A deserved opening try finally materialised on the half-hour courtesy of winger Miles Benjamin on his first Premiership start, as a scrum down the right-hand side was worked left and Crichton's deft handling created the two-on-one from which Benjamin scored unopposed in the left corner.

Crichton's touchline conversion attempt held up in the breeze just short of the crossbar and it proved costly just before the break as a second Wilkinson penalty snatched a 6-5 half-time lead for the hosts.

With a flea in their ear from coach John Fletcher, the Falcons side asked more questions of Worcester in the early exchanges of the second-half.

But crucially the north-east side could not break down the visiting defence as their scoring was again restricted to the boot with a third penalty for the deadly Wilkinson.

With Worcester creating much the more clear-cut chances, a Crichton cross-kick to Rico Gear almost reaped dividends in the right corner.

But moments later All Black Gear crashed over for a fine try as he hit the line at pace to blast his way through the much-heralded Falcons back line.

This time, Crichton added the extras for a three-point lead but Wilkinson drew the sides level on the hour mark with a fourth penalty as the Warriors' indiscipline was again their undoing.

Controversy ensued as Delport crossed for what looked a legitimate try in the right corner, only for play to be pulled back for a forward pass which appeared borderline at best.

With almost constant pressure on the Newcastle line, it seemed the try had to come sooner or later but sloppy ball retention proved costly as the visitors coughed up possession to an eager Newcastle pack just five metres out.

With the game entering a tense last 10 minutes there was yet more agony for Worcester as Wilkinson slotted in to the pocket and hammered home a huge drop goal with his trusty left boot to snatch an unlikely lead.

Try as they might, Worcester just simply could not break down the Falcons defence in the dying minutes.

With the last two minutes ebbing away and the hosts keeping the ball tight, it proved to be yet another Premiership nightmare for Ruddock and his charges.

Warriors' fans can certainly take heart from the commitment and endeavour on show yesterday in picking up a losing bonus point to move two points clear of bottom side Leeds.

But the inability to put away an underperforming Newcastle outfit must be the cause of major concern going in to what promises to be a tough back-end to the season.

Points: Falcons: Wilkinson (four penalties and drop goal); Warriors: Benjamin (try), Gear (try), Crichton (conversion).

Falcons: Tait; May, Visser (Phillips 67), Flood, Rudd; Wilkinson, Grindal (Dickson 57); Golding (Ward 52), Long (Thompson 57), Hayman, Perry, Sorenson, Parling (Winter 57), Woods, Wilson.

Warriors: Delport; Gear, Rasmussen, Tuitupou, Benjamin; Crichton, M Powell (Arr 73); Morris (Ruwers 73), Lutui, Taumoepeau (Mullan 75), Rawlinson, Gillies (Bowley 64), Wood (Quinnell 70), Sanderson, Hickey.

Referee: Rob Debney.

Attendance: 7,219.