Sale ease relegation fears
Sale Sharks kept their hopes of Premiership survival alive when a late Tom Brady try saw them move six points clear of bottom-placed side London Welsh.
While Bath came away from a snowy and windy Salford City Stadium with the losing bonus point, the result is significant for the struggling Sale outfit,
A try from Horacio Agulla and eight points from the boot of Tom Heathcote wasn't quite enough as Brady went over for a try inside the final 10 minutes.
With London Welsh awaiting the outcome of their appeal against a five-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player, the win on Friday might just prove to be enough to keep the Sharks in the Premiership.
Both sides headed into the game on the back of defeats, with the Sharks having come unstuck at home to Harlequins and Bath suffering a loss on their travels to the same side.
An inauspicious start to the game in difficult conditions at the Salford City Stadium brought little in the way of points-scoring opportunities, and it wasn't until the 21st minute that the deadlock was broken.
Nick Macleod's penalty was enough to put Sale in front but their lead lasted just 12 minutes, as Tom Heathcote levelled things up with a three-pointer of his own.
The 3-3 scoreline probably reflected the flow of the game in the first half, but the hosts weren't content, and added two quickfire penalties just short of half-time to establish a six-point advantage.
Sale maintained their lead during the opening exchanges of the second half, until Horacio Agulla's converted try on 54 minutes, converted by Heatcote, gave Bath the lead for the first time.
Agulla's try came after a well-worked line-out and a driving maul, but, though the visitors held their hosts at bay in the period that followed, the score would not prove decisive.
Sale rallied and matched Bath in the middle and their persistence paid off as the game approached its final stages, when Brady crashed over out wide for an unconverted try.
That made it 14-10, and, though Heathcote narrowed the deficit to a single point with a penalty on 76 minutes, Sale were able to hold on for a vital victory.
The scorers:
For Sale Sharks:
Try: Brady
Pens: Macleod 3
For Bath:
Try: Agulla
Con: Heathcote
Pens: Heathcote 2
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Cameron Shepherd, 14 Charlie Amesbury, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sammy Tuitupou, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Andy Powell, 7 David Seymour (captain), 6 Daniel Braid, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 James Gaskell, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Al Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Tony Buckley, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Kearnan Myall, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Tom Brady.
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Carl Fearns, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Mat Gilbert, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Semesa Rokoduguni.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant Referees: Ashley Rowden & Stuart Terheege.
