Sale survived a spirited second-half fightback from Bath to clinch a deserved
victory at Heywood Road.
The west country outfit, once the rulers of English club rugby union, gave an
abject display before the interval and were lucky to be trailing just 13-6.
They had no answer to Sale's quickfire attack - orchestrated by Jonny
Wilkinson's England understudy Charlie Hodgson, until his departure at the end
of the first half - which saw Jason Robinson, Jos Baxendell and Hodgson himself
all touch down.
Bath stepped up a gear after the break with the boot of Ollie Barkley keeping
them in contention, but it was not enough to prevent them crashing to their
eighth Zurich Premiership defeat of the season.
Barkley gave Bath an early lead with a long-range penalty but a piece of
individual brilliance from England star Robinson - starting the match at
full-back - nullified the advantage in the eighth minute.
A pinpoint pass from Hodgson found Steve Hanley, who slipped the ball to
Robinson.
With no room to work in and some 20 metres from the Bath line, the former
Great Britain rugby league ace put in a neat grubber kick which he collected
before diving over.
Hodgson missed the conversion but made amends in the 20th minute with an easy
penalty.
The Sharks were well on top, continually pushing the visitors deep into their
own half, but their efforts were hindered by poor handling, Hanley being the
chief culprit.
The former England winger had a glorious chance when chasing a punt upfield.
Racing ahead, he gathered up the ball only to drop it with the line beckoning.
Sale could not be denied for long and in the 34th minute they crossed again,
Hodgson ghosting over with the Bath defence fully stretched.
He failed to add the extras and had to leave the field moments later following
a tackle which left him clutching his ankle.
Bath started to come alive as the half neared its conclusion, launching their
best move so far which Barkley rounded off with a penalty.
Sharks prop Kevin Yates was sin-binned in the 51st minute for fighting and the
visitors used their numerical advantage to score a push-over try through
substitute Dalzell, cutting the deficit to 13-11.
Baxendell, deputising at fly-half in Hodgson's absence, then took advantage of
some sloppy tackling to skip over for a soft try which he himself converted.
Barkley kept his side in touch with a penalty but the Bath fightback petered
out as Sale's defence held firm.
Teams:
Sale: Robinson, Cueto, Baxendell, Deane, Hanley, Hodgson,
Redpath, Yates, Titterrell, Turner, Fullarton, Lines, C. Jones,
Wilks, A. Sanderson.
Replacements: Davies for Deane (77), Going for Hodgson (40),
C. Marais for Titterrell (65).
Not Used: Dickens, Shaw, Giacheri, Black.
Sin Bin: Yates (53).
Tries: Robinson, Hodgson, Baxendell.
Cons: Baxendell.
Pens: Hodgson.
Bath: Perry, Balshaw, Maggs, Tindall, Voyce, Barkley,
Chrystie,
D. Barnes, Regan, Emms, Borthwick, Grewcock, G. Thomas,
N. Thomas, Gabey.
Replacements: Dalzell for Chrystie (53), Mallett for Emms (54),
Scaysbrook for Gabey (70).
Not Used: Long, Crockett, Danielli, Hudson.
Tries: Dalzell.
Pens: Barkley 3.
Att: 5,392
Ref: Robin Goodlife (RFU).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook