Austin Healey suffered a recurrence of his hamstring strain as Leicester were
held to a Premiership draw by spirited Sale at Heywood Road.
Heavily bandaged at the start, Healey had already received lengthy treatment
on the injury before embarking on a 30-metre midfield burst 15 minutes from
time.
The move came to nothing but Healey was unable to rise from the ground,
clutching his left leg in obvious pain and was immediately replaced by Jamie
Hamilton.
And the scrum-half's mood was made even worse as Niki Little landed a
last-minute drop goal to further destabilise the Tigers' flagging title
chances.
After suffering a 50-point hammering on their previous home outing against
Saracens and having received a similar mauling by Leicester at Heywood Road last
term, Sale started with understandable determination.
Skipper Alex Sanderson, called into the England Test squad on Wednesday, led
the way with some typically tough tackling.
However, the 20-year-old number eight also let himself down by getting
involved in some off-the-ball antics with opposite number Martin Corry and later
in the proceedings a square-up with the returning Martin Johnson.
Flanker Neil Back also figured for the visitors after missing last week's
defeat at Bristol.
Despite their returning internationals, Leicester passed up clear scoring
chances through a series of knock-ons and missed tackles, Sale mounted an
impressive early lead through three Little penalties.
That they achieved the advantage without getting anywhere near the Tigers line
said much for their visitors' profligacy.
At one stage Leicester attempted a straightforward move from a scrum only for
Healey to fire out a pass which struck Leon Lloyd squarely on the forehead,
poleaxing the deposed England centre.
It was too good to be true for the home side and the Tigers eventually forced
their way over when Geordan Murphy collected an Andrew Goode pass on the first
bounce and easily cut through the Sale defence.
Tim Stimpson's conversion came back off a post, although his aim was true two
minutes from the break when he landed a simple penalty under the posts.
Stimpson's miss and hit exploits continued after the interval when he failed
with a 30-metre penalty attempt, then succeeded from 20 to put his side in front
for the first time.
If director of rugby Dean Richards was frustrated at the earlier chances
Leicester had wasted, his reaction to the failure of winger Winston Stanley's
personal disaster on 50 minutes must have been one of utter disbelief.
Pat Howard cut open the Sale defence on halfway and fed Stimpson, who in turn
handed on to the Canadian with open space in front of him. Stanley crossed the
try line then cut inside to score under the posts.
In the meantime Bryan Redpath had chased back and as Stanley tried to place
the ball, the little Scotland scrum-half nudged his opponent into the
advertising hoardings behind the goal before the touchdown could be made.
Despite controlling possession Leicester still failed to capitalise, although
the disruption caused by Healey's injury hardly helped.
Stimpson kept his nerve to slot home a penalty from the halfway line with
eight minutes left and was equally accurate from half the distance shortly
afterwards to put Leicester two scores clear.
But Sale were not to be denied. Winger Vaughan Going crashed through in the
corner and though Little hit a post with the conversion, he found the target
with a drop-goal on Sale's next attack to bring the crowd to their feet in
admiration.
Zurich man of the match: Alex Sanderson.
Sale:
Tries: Going.
Pens: Little 3.
Drop Goals: Little.
Sale: Mallinder, Davidson, Baxendell, Deane, Going, Little,
Redpath, Smith, Jackman, Bell, Manson-Bishop, Whittle,
Anglesea, Appleyard, Sanderson.
Replacements: Shaw for Davidson (71),
Winstanley for Smith (41), Black for Bell (41),
Lines for Manson-Bishop (71), Wilks for Anglesea (75).
Not Used: Hatley, Rusk.
Leicester:
Tries:
Murphy. Pens: Stimpson 4. Leicester: Stimpson, Murphy, Lloyd, Howard,
Stanley, Goode,Healey, Jelley, West, Garforth, M. Johnson, Short, Gustard,
Back, Corry.
Replacements: Smith for Murphy (71), Hamilton for Healey (65),
Rowntree for Jelley (53), Cockerill for West (41),
Nebbett for Garforth (75), Kay for Short (53),Balding for Gustard (65).
Att: 3,407
Ref: Steve Leyshon (RFU).
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