Sale overcame Harlequins at Heywood Road but it was not the one-sided
encounter many were expecting.
The London club were missing internationals Alex Codling, Will Greenwood, Dan
Luger, Keith Wood and Paul Burke but they still produced a committed display
which made a mockery of their poor early-season form.
They led for much of the game and it was not until England winger Mark Cueto
crossed in the 63rd minute that the Sharks looked likely to secure victory.
But even then Jim Mallinder's men had to weather a late surge which saw an
injury-time try from substitute Luke Sherriff slash the deficit to a point.
David Slemen missed the conversion and the Sharks went straight onto the
attack, sealing the points with a Charlie Hodgson drop-goal in the 84th minute.
The home side raced out of the blocks and dominated the opening exchanges but
for all their early possession they made little headway against a determined
Harlequins defence.
Instead it was the visitors who scored first as they made the most of a poor
clearance kick from England full-back Jason Robinson, running the ball upfield and
quickly recycling before going wide.
Vilaime Satala fed winger Ben Gollings who raced down the left flank and
slipped a neat pass to flanker Pat Sanderson who crashed over.
A Hodgson penalty shortly after reduced the deficit as the Sharks continued to
push forward, twice going close to touching down in the left corner.
But Harlequins had not made the long trip north just to lay down and die,
battling for every scrap and looking to shift the ball wide as often as
possible.
Satala looked particularly threatening as he probed the home defence for
weaknesses.
A Nathan Williams drop-goal in the 31st minute put Harlequins further ahead
but they came under intense pressure soon after when flanker Ace Tiatia was
sinbinned for a late tackle on Hodgson.
But the Sharks squandered the advantage, failing to breach their opponents'
watertight rearguard.
Despite being a man down, Harlequins finished the half the stronger of the two
teams with Slemen, covering for the injured Burke at fly-half, booting a penalty
to nudge his side into a 11-3 interval lead.
The Sharks started the second half has they had begun the first - full of
attacking endeavour. But this time their efforts were rewarded when Hodgson
finished a fine team try just a minute after the break, adding the conversion
himself.
The match was now finely poised and sensing the result could go either way,
both sides tightened up, kicking more often and running round the fringes when
previously they had looked to ship the ball wide.
Mistakes were also becoming more frequent with dropped passes interrupting the
flow of play on several occasions, but some slick handling in the 63rd minute
sent Cueto over, flanker Alex Sanderson initially setting up the try with some
good work at a line-out.
Hodgson converted before the Sharks had to deal with Harlequins' late
fightback, which they survived to clinch their third win of the season.
Sale:
Tries: Hodgson, Cueto. Cons: Hodgson 2. Pens: Hodgson.
Drop Goals: Hodgson.
Sale: Robinson, Cueto, Baxendell, Deane, Hanley, Hodgson,
Redpath, Thorp, Titterrell, Stewart, C. Jones, Lines,
A. Sanderson, Pinkerton, Anglesea.
Not Used: Marais, Yates, Schofield, Perelini, Harris, Going,
Walshe.
Harlequins:
Tries: Sanderson, Sheriff. Pens: D. Slemen.
Drop Goals: N. Williams.
Harlequins: N. Williams, Moore, Greenstock, Satala, Gollings,
D. Slemen, Bemand, Leonard, Fuga, Gomez, Davison, Evans,
Tiatia, Sanderson, Diprose.
Not Used: Rudzki, Starr, Cardinalli, Miall, Sheriff, Jewell,
Duncombe.
Att: 5,613
Ref: Tony Spreadbury (England).
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