Sale Sharks played themselves back into Pool Three contention in the Heineken
Cup with a surprise win over a lacklustre Leinster at Lansdowne Road.
Jim Mallinder's side remain in touch in three competitions thanks to a
79th-minute drop goal from fly-half Charlie Hodgson, with this vital win putting
them a point behind the Irish province with the return trip to come on Sunday
week.
Two first-half tries and a 13-point haul from Hodgson saw them deliver a first
loss for Leinster in nine games, who were not helped by the hamstring injury
suffered by Brian O'Driscoll on 18 minutes and the second-half sin-binning of
Victor Costello.
Sharks took the lead after three minutes and a line-out steal. Costello's
knock-on and Malcolm O'Kelly's failure to roll away from a midfield line-out saw
Hodgson fire over a 25-metre penalty.
Another line-out loss followed for shaky Leinster before Matt Leek's lengthy
pass put left wing Gordon D'Arcy inside opposite number Matt Cueto.
A quick offload saw John McWeeney thunder through the challenges of Jason
Robinson and Hodgson to five metres out before another quick release saw Reggie
Corrigan burrow over for a converted effort.
A period of dominance from the home side was overshadowed by the failure of
Welsh referee Nigel Whitehouse to spot a vicious stamp by Andrew Titterrell on
Eric Miller's face.
With O'Driscoll barely 30 seconds off the field, Sharks earned their first try
as Hodgson fed second row Jason White to touch down in the left corner. The
conversion left the visitors 10-7 in front by the half's midway point.
Brian O'Meara drew the sides level two minutes later with a right-sided
penalty before Gordon D'Arcy landed a short-range drop goal for the lead.
The sheer aggressiveness of Sale's defence led to a second Hodgson penalty on
the half-hour and following a short burst by skipper Andrew Sanderson and poor
Leinster positioning, second row Chris Jones crashed over under the challenge of
Keith Gleeson by the right corner flag.
Hodgson's fourth success from four put Mallinder's men 20-13 in front at the
interval before O'Meara brought Leinster back to within four points after 52
minutes.
The busy scrum-half lifted the Leinster tempo on the hour and stroked over a
second drop goal after 63 minutes for a 20-19 deficit.
With Sale conceding territory by the minute and having lock Dean Schofield
yellow-carded, O'Meara elected for the penalty with six minutes remaining to put
Leinster in front, but Sale managed to hold out after Hodgson's heroics and
eight minutes of stoppage time for a famous win.
Teams:
Leinster: Dempsey, McWeeney, O'Driscoll, Horgan, D'arcy, Leek,
O'Meara, Corrigan, S. Byrne, Coyle, O'Kelly, Gissing, Miller,
Gleeson, Costello.
Replacements: Moran G, Hickie, Dillon, Jennings, O'Riordan,
Burke, Quinlan.
Tries: Corrigan.
Cons: O'Meara.
Pens: O'Meara 3.
Drop Goals: D'arcy, O'Meara.
Sale: Robinson, Cueto, Mayor, Bond, Hanley, Hodgson, Redpath,
Sheridan, Titterell, Turner, C. Jones, Schofield, White,
Pinkerton, Sanderson.
Replacements: Cairns, Yates, Stewart, Fullarton, Lund, Going,
Wigglesworth.
Tries: C. Jones, White.
Cons: Hodgson 2.
Pens: Hodgson 2.
Drop Goals: Hodgson.
Att: 12,000
Ref: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales).
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