Charlie Hodgson kicked Sale to a vital Aviva Premiership win all but assuring his side's Premiership status in the process. In the end it was a tale of two kickers with Adrian Jarvis missing 4 kicks and Hodgson's slotting a perfect 5 from 5.
Hodgson kicked an early penalty but Leeds dominated the early exchanges, controlling the Scrum and Lineout. They got their reward for this dominance with Henry Fa'afili scoring in the corner after Neil Briggs overthrew a linoeut. Jarvis slotted the conversion from the corner, this was to be his last successful kick of the game.
Both sides then missed chances to score, settling for penalties instead. Hodgson pushed Sale to a 9-7 half-time lead with Jarvis twice hitting the Edgeley Park uprights, it was clear it wasn't going to be his night.
Sale came out firing in the second half, dominating both territory and possesion. Sale crossed the Leeds line but referee Wayne Barnes adjudged it had been held up, but pushed the score 12-7 after a related penalty. They now had the upper hand in the scrum with the entrance of Eifion Lewis Roberts and a scrum penalty gave Hodgson the chance to push Leeds out of bonus point range.
Leeds huffed and puffed but struggled to string any error-free rugby together. They finally managed to score with three minutes remaining, Michael Stephenson scoring in the corner. It was however too little too late, final score Sale 15 Leeds 12.
This win surely guarantees Sale's Premiership status for another Season. Leeds Carnegie must now beat Newcastle to have any chance of avoiding relegation.
