Bristol Bears move to eighth with 20-20 draw against Sale Sharks

Bristol Bears 20-20 Sale Sharks, Ashton Gate
Scorecard

Faf de Klerk's last-minute penalty hit the posts as the Gallagher Premiership encounter between Bristol Bears and Sale Sharks at Ashton Gate finished in a 20-20 draw.

The result means Bristol have moved to eighth place in the table with 47 points while Sale Sharks are at sixth place with 50 points.

Denny Solomona got Sale Sharks off to a promising start when he intercepted a pass from Callum Sheedy to dot down in the 10th minute and Aj MacGinty followed with a conversion and a penalty to take the score line 0-10.

Bristol responded back by the half hour mark when Charles Piutau on his comeback from a calf injury crossed over with Sheedy improving it. De Klerk and Sheedy traded penalties as the teams went into the break with a 10-13 scoreline.

Ben Curry provided a promising start for the visitors in the second half when he set up de Klerk for his opening try in the 43rd minute and Aj MacGinty followed with the conversion but their efforts were negated when Alapati Leiua immediately went over the line that was improved by Sheedy.

Leiua almost got his second by the 70th minute but was denied and despite the setback Sheedy kicked a vital penalty kick to level the scores 20-20.

Sheedy had a chance to take Bristol over the line but missed a couple of penalties and despite Jono Ross' sin-bin for a no-arm hit into a ruck in the 79th minute, de Klerk had a long-range penalty chance that hit the posts leaving the scores at 20-20.