Wing Mark Cueto grabbed a late try to help Sale snatch a draw in a pulsating
Zurich Premiership encounter with Harlequins at Edgeley Park.
Cueto rounded off a last-gasp effort from the Sharks with his second try in
the corner - but it still needed a superbly-struck conversion from centre Braam
van Straaten to deny Harlequins a rare victory over Sale.
The Londoners looked poised for only their second win in 10 league matches
with the Sharks after wing Simon Keogh rounded off a devastating 80-metre
counter-attack for a try.
But Sale, looking to complete the double over Harlequins, never gave up and
got their reward with just seconds left on the clock.
Both sides were depleted by injury and call-ups to Saturday's match between
England and the New Zealand Barbarians at Twickenham.
The Sharks certainly missed the silky skills of Jason Robinson - while
Harlequins could welcome back centre Will Greenwood for his first game since
England's World Cup triumph.
Even without Robinson, Sale will wonder how they failed to win a game they
dominated for long periods - knowing victory would have taken them second.
But they were hit by a series of sucker punches.
The first came after just four minutes when outside-half Jos Baxendell,
celebrating 10 years with the club, was tripped as he chased his own kick
through.
It might have been accidental. But Quins rode their luck to force a line-out
close to the Sale line from where prop Ceri Jones was pushed over. Outside half
Andy Dunne added the conversion, before producing a monster effort to land a
penalty from the 10-metre mark.
Sale were handed the chance to get back into the match when the visitors had
number eight Tony Diprose and prop Jon Dawson sin-binned in quick succession for
conceding penalties close to their line.
Harlequins held out while down to 13 men, thanks to some magnificent
last-ditch defending and several handling errors by the Sale backs.
But Diprose had only just come back on to the field when Baxendell finally
found a gap and darted through to score.
With half-time beckoning, Sale's good work was undone when Harlequins
scrum-half Scott Bemand made a try-saving catch and then hoofed the ball into
acres of space.
Lock Jim Evans picked up and dummied his way past one tackle before haring to
the goal posts with Sale screaming for offside but the referee judging they had
got a hand to the ball.
Cueto grabbed a try Sale desperately needed with the second half less than
four minutes old. Then South African van Straaten converted from wide out before
levelling the scores for the first time with a penalty.
But when full-back Vaughan Going lost possession on the Harlequins 22
Greenwood found Dunne, who made a sizzling 50-metre break before sending Keogh
clear.
Dunne later landed a penalty after van Straaten had reduced the gap. But even
with the world's most-capped prop Jason Leonard on the field, Quins could not
hang on to their advantage.
Teams:
Sale: Going, Cueto, van Straaten, Bond, Hanley, Baxendell,
Walshe, Yates, Cairns, Stewart, Fullarton, Schofield, White,
Pinkerton, C. Jones.
Replacements: Turner for C. Jones (59).
Not Used: Roddham, Lloyd, Lund, Mayor, Hoyle, Wigglesworth.
Tries: Baxendell, Cueto 2.
Cons: van Straaten 3.
Pens: van Straaten 2.
Sin Bin: Stewart (51).
Harlequins: Duffy, Harder, Greenwood, Deane, Keogh, Dunne,
Bemand, Jones, Fuga, Dawson, Davison, Evans, Winters, Vos,
Diprose, Horstmann.
Replacements: Bell for Deane (65), Leonard for Jones (63),
Hayter for Fuga (69), Rudzki for Davison (63),
Gomez for Horstmann (30).
Not Used: Horstmann, Jarvis.
Tries: Jones, Evans, Keogh.
Cons: Dunne 3.
Pens: Dunne 2.
Sin Bin: Diprose (24), Dawson (28).
Att: 6,643
Ref: Dave Pearson (England).
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