Braam van Straaten was Leeds' saviour this evening, landing an 85th-minute
penalty to force a draw with Sale Sharks after the Tykes had leaked 17 points in
the final eight minutes.
First half scores from Cameron Mather and Chris Murphy gave the unbeaten Tykes
a healthy lead which Sale struggled to dismantle until Diego Albanese was
sinbinned in the closing minutes to change the game entirely.
Sale immediately struck back, with Mark Cueto and Steve Hanley crossing before
Charlie Hodgson landed a drop goal.
But Leeds surged down the other end after Sale were penalised for diving over.
South African van Straaten, hero with the boot more than once this season,
landed the kick to force a draw.
Sale's threat comes from the backs, so Leeds' tactics early on were to pin the
Sharks in their own corners, stretch Jason Robinson wide and allow their own
pack to heap on the pressure.
Robinson initially refused to co-operate, running the ball from deep as the
Sharks' exciting back-line counter-attacked.
The England full-back's typical scything runs caused Leeds problems early on,
while Hodgson's ranging passes wide brought Jos Baxendell and Hanley into play.
But despite the threats, Sale lacked penetration and were restricted to
penalty shots at goal and the Leeds pack began to dominate.
Hodgson landed four first half penalties, van Straaten one for Leeds, but
tries from Mather and Murphy powered the Tykes ahead as their gameplan came to
fruition.
After Hodgson's first penalty - a pinpoint kick to the corner - won Leeds
field position, the pressure on Sale was unrelenting until Mather, who is still
in with a shout of Scotland World Cup selection, burrowed over with 13 minutes
gone.
Two more penalties from Hodgson, and one for van Straaten, followed before the
Leeds forwards cranked into action again.
A perfect throw to the back of the lineout from Mark Regan allowed Tom Palmer
to set the ball up on the 22. The move had followed neat work from Gordon Ross
down the left and a skewed clearance from Hodgson.
And Jonny Wilkinson's England understudy was punished as Leeds recycled the
ball quickly, making deeper inroads into the Sale 22 each time.
The Sharks pack, on the back foot, were outmuscled as the Tykes drove through
phase after phase before Murphy finally dropped over to the delight of majority
of the 5123 crowd, Leeds' biggest of the season.
Hodgson's fourth penalty reduced the arrears to 17-12, but immediately after
the restart van Straaten rediscovered his range.
The South African landed a 60-metre penalty against Harlequins last week and
after missing two in the first half, he booted Leeds into a 26-12 lead,
including another giant effort from inside his own half.
And it was a lead to which Sale initially had little answer.
Even when Hanley was shown the outside by George Harder, the giant Samoan
hauled his man down to snuff out the danger.
Sale's increasing desperation allowed Albanese and Dan Scarbrough room to
manoeuvre, though neither could find the crucial breakthrough to seal the game
once and for all.
Instead the Argentine wing, a revelation since his summer switch from
Gloucester, was sinbinned with 10 minutes remaining for killing the ball as Sale
enjoyed their longest spell of pressure in the game.
And with an extra man, the Sharks took full advantage to surge into a 29-26
lead in injury time.
After Hodgson's chip and chase had been foiled by an unlucky bounce, Cueto's
angle beat a flat Scarbrough to touch down.
Hodgson's conversion brought Sale to within a converted try of the Tykes
before Cueto found Hanley on the overlap to dive over and level the scores.
Hodgson's 81st-minute drop goal had seemingly won the day before van Straaten
landed a magnificent kick from the left wing to move Leeds top and maintain
their unbeaten start in thrilling fashion.
Teams
Leeds: Scarborough, Harder, Davies, van Straaten, Albanese,
Ross, Hegarty, Shelley, Regan, Kerr, C. Murphy, Palmer, Mather,
Ponton, Fea'unati.
Not Used: Wring, Holt, Campbell, Hogg, Dickens, Emmerson, Hall.
Tries: Mather, C. Murphy.
Cons: van Straaten 2.
Pens: van Straaten 5.
Sale: Robinson, Cueto, Baxendell, Harris, Hanley, Hodgson,
Walshe, Thorp, Marais, Stewart, Lines, C. Jones, A. Sanderson,
Pinkerton, Anglesea.
Not Used: Titterrell, Yates, Schofield, Perelini, Deane, Going,
Wigglesworth.
Tries: Cueto, Hanley.
Cons: Hodgson 2.
Pens: Hodgson 4.
Drop Goals: Hodgson.
Att: 5,123
Ref: Paul Adams (Welsh RFU).
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