Sale exploded after the interval to wrest the Parker Pen Shield from brave Pontypridd and finally open the Heywood Road trophy cabinet in Oxford.

Jim Mallinder's men kept their nerve when they trailed by 12 points at the interval, then responded when Ponty battled back.

The victory owed much to Sale's fitness reserves, which kept them ploughing forward long after Welsh legs had given way.

Prompted by fly-half Charlie Hodgson, Sale swept in front with two tries in three minutes, centre Martin Shaw darting over before Steve Hanley sprinted in from halfway as Ponty waited for Jason Robinson to be released.

With the game turned on its head, Sale suffered an unwelcome setback when Ponty responded with fire.

But the Premiership runners-up have spent the season confounding their doubters and Hodgson's brilliantly delayed pass to replacement centre Dan Harris ensured a key would need to be found for a cupboard which in its entire 100-year history has only been occupied once by the old Northern Merit trophy.

Sale went into the game as favourites but, as London Irish found out in the semi-final, Ponty have little respect for the bookmakers' odds.

With their effective style, the Welshmen can provide difficulties for the biggest of packs.

Sale's strength lies in their backs, so they were immediately in trouble, especially as leading line-out jumper Iain Fullarton was ruled out with a hip problem.

It was 15 minutes before the Premiership outfit managed their first attacking incursion into Ponty territory, by which time they were already nine points down.

Fullarton's replacement Scott Lines was hauled out for an interrogation by Irish referee Alan Lewis in the second minute for some over-robust rucking which allowed Brett Davey to open the scoring.

Fly-half Ceri Sweeney landed a drop goal before Davey took centre stage again, smacking over a further four penalties before the interval to give them an imposing half-time lead.

After their early dominance, Ponty had also been successful in snuffing out the much-heralded Sale back division.

Robinson was swamped every time he took possession and Mark Cueto's running feud with Richard Johnston finished no better than even.

It was the line-out following one collision of the wingers which saw Kevin Yates despatched to the sin-bin.

The former England prop clearly took out Brent Cockbain in the air, although Sale did well to keep the damage down to just three points when any significant Pontypridd contribution could have seen the game drift away from them completely.

What that battling 10-minute spell had done was offer Sale hope that their opponents were tiring. The immediate signs after the break confirmed that theory.

Sale started to punch into holes which had not previously existed and Ponty's defenders were looking weary.

Hodgson landed a penalty after a clear offside and the tide slowly started to turn.

Shaw blasted over, followed by Steve Hanley's effort from halfway, Robinson the dummy runner to Shaw's looping pass.

The Welsh side looked a spent force but summoned an admirable second wind to pile on the pressure once more.

Sensing they would be unable to resist a Sale assault on their own line, Ponty spurned a kickable penalty chance and went for a line-out drive which succeeded spectacularly as hooker Mefin Davies was shoved over by at least 10 team-mates.

Sale were not to be denied, though, and when Hodgson took Bryan Redpath's short pass he delayed brilliantly before sending Harris over to seal victory.

Teams:

Pontypridd: Davey, Wyatt, Parker, Bryant, Johnson, Sweeney, John, Jenkins, Davies, Bell, Cockbain, Sidoli, Kelly, Parks, Owen.

Replacements: Remnant for Kelly (74).

Not Used: Baber, J. Lewis, S. James, M. Rees, Cronk, Field.

Tries: Davies.

Cons: Davey.

Pens: Davey 4.

Drop Goals: Sweeney.

Sale: Robinson, Cueto, Shaw, Deane, Hanley, Hodgson, Redpath, Yates, Turner, C. Marais, Lines, C. Jones, A. Sanderson, Pinkerton, Pinkerton, Anglesea, Baxendell, Black.

Replacements: Harris for Deane (71), Titterrell for Turner (69), Baxendell for Pinkerton (15), Black for Pinkerton (35), Pinkerton for Baxendell (19), Pinkerton for Black (40).

Not Used: Dickens, Wilks, Giacheri.

Tries: Shaw, Hanley, Harris.

Cons: Hodgson 2.

Pens: Hodgson 2.

Sin Bin: Yates (31).

Att: 12,000

Ref: Alan Lewis (Ireland).