Sale Sharks overcome London Irish with 9-13 victory

London Irish 9-13 Sale Sharks, Madejski Stadium
Scorecard

Josh Strauss scored the only try in the game as Sale Sharks managed to hold off London Irish with a 9-13 triumph over their Aviva Premiership face-off at Madejski Stadium on Saturday.

Faf de Klerk kicked the proceedings with a fourth minute penalty for Sale Sharks while Josh Strauss crossed in the 29th minute and the scrum-half converted it as the visitors added 10 unanswered points.

Tommy Bell finally opened London Irish's account with a 34th minute penalty as they headed into the break with seven point deficit.

Bell managed to reduce the arrears to four points with his second penalty that came in the 59th minute but de Klerk restored Sale's seven point lead with a penalty two minutes later.

Sale suffered a major setback when Marc Jones was yellow-carded in the 71st minute and Bell kicked a penalty to bring down the gap to four points but despite having the numerical advantage in the final nine minutes, London Irish could not get the final push as they succumbed to a four point defeat.