Sale Sharks had just enough of a cutting edge to end Rotherham's Tetley's
Bitter Cup hopes at Heywood Road in what was a typical, if unedifying, Cup tie.
The wet conditions suited the Yorkshire outfit rather better than Sale, which
meant that the home side's first-half tries were always going to be crucial as
conditions deteriorated in the heavy rain.
Rotherham pushed Sale all the way, predominately through their pack, but the
home side defended superbly.
It held firm under pressure although they enabled Rotherham fly-half Luke
Smith to keep his side in contention because of the penalties they gave away.
Smith kicked a seventh-minute penalty for Rotherham but Sale hit back with a
well-taken try by centre Jos Baxendell after a tremendous surge up the middle by
Apollo Perelini.
Nikki Little converted but was off target with two kickable penalty chances
and Smith cut the deficit with his second penalty of the afternoon.
Sale had the final word of an evenly-contested half when good pressure ended
with winger Matt Moore plunging over between the posts, Little converting to
give his side a 14-6 interval lead.
The second half was restricted to the boot. Smith popped over two more
penalties, cutting the deficit to two points at one stage, but Little, who was
out-of-sorts, succeeded with two out of seven attempts and it was just enough.
Teams
Sale: Going, Moore, Baxendell,
Shaw, Robinson, Little, Hatley,
Bell, Jackman, Thiel, Lines, Whittle, Anglesea, Appleyard, Perelini.
Replacements: Harris for Shaw (68), Black for Thiel (47),
Manson-Bishop for Whittle (57).
Not Used: Knight, Davidson, Wilkes, Rusk.
Sin Bin: Anglesea (45).
Tries: Baxendell, Moore.
Cons: Little 2.
Pens: Little 2.
Rotherham: Umaga, Naylor, Hassan, Northey, Dawson, Smith,
Scully, Thorp, Johnson, Turner, Murphy, Kenworthy, Schmid, Spence, Fea'unati.
Replacements: Shepherd for Hassan (12), Bunting for Thorp (47),
Garnett for Johnson (47).
Not Used: Latham, Cook, Parr, Harrison.
Pens: Smith 4.
Att: 2,117
Ref: Rob Goodliffe (RFU).
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