Sale Sharks caught French Top 14 side Clermont Auvergne cold to claim a valuable Heineken Cup Pool One victory on the road.

A banner draped over the front of one of the Stade Marcel Michelin's massive stands before kick-off welcomed Sale director of rugby Philippe Saint Andre back to his former stamping ground.

But the hosts made a disappointing start in a hugely physical contest played at breakneck pace.

Saint Andre took Charlie Hodgson, whose defensive frailties are well known, out of the firing line and fielded England scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth at fly-half, paired with Wales and Lions hinge Dwayne Peel.

Sale's unexpected line-up also lacked England utility back Mathew Tait and England tighthead Andrew Sheridan.

But Luke McAlister, on goal-kicking duty in place of Hodgson, clipped over two penalties in the opening 15 minutes to give the Guinness Premiership side a 6-0 lead.

And they grabbed the first try of the game five minutes later, wing David Doherty finishing off a move sparked by Peel's midfield break from halfway with McAlister adding the conversion.

Clermont, who tried to be adventurous, were repeatedly frustrated by Sales' disciplined defensive work and the French side's handling errors kept them off the scoreboard until Brock James pegged three points back on the half-hour with a close-range penalty.

James pulled the deficit back to 13-6 four minutes later with a second penalty which, luckily for him, went over off the inside of the left-hand upright but he missed a chance to cut Sale's lead to four points at the interval, pulling his 35-metre goal shot wide.

Hodgson entered the fray six minutes into the second half, replacing Peel with Wigglesworth stepping up to scrum-half, just in time to see James cut another three points off his side's lead.

But the discarded England fly-half made his mark in the 52nd minute, his miss-pass setting up a superbly crafted try for McAlister, who converted his own score to give Sale a 20-9 lead.

James cut that by three points on the hour and a minute later McAlister fired narrowly wide with a monster kick from inside his own half as Sale looked to maintain their hard-won lead.

And they did that in style in the 73rd minute with a try from centre Rudi Keil with McAlister making it three successful conversions for a 17-point haul.

And Sale rubbed salt in the beaten home side's wounds with a fourth bonus-point try, which went unconverted, three minutes from time finished off by Mark Cueto.