Sale Sharks 29-21 Northampton Saints

Friday 23 September 2011

Sale Sharks fought back from being nine points down to defeat Northampton Saints 29-21 at Edgeley Park on Friday night in a game that was marred by three yellow cards.

Northampton made three changes from the side that was beaten by London Irish last weekend with Paul Doran-Jones, Brian Mujati and Stephen Myler all coming back into the side at Edgeley Park. Sale only made one change from the fifteen who won 29-18 at Wasps in the previous game with Tom Brady coming into the team in place of Charlie Amesbury.

The visitors made a bright start and on three minutes had their first opportunity to get points on the board with a penalty. Stephen Myler however, pulled his attempt to the left of the posts and the game remained scoreless. Sale were then awarded a penalty of their own after Calum Clark was adjudged to be off his feet but Welshman Nick Macleod copied Myler and his kick drifted wide too.

The Saints did draw first blood on nine minutes as Myler found his range with his second penalty of the evening. Sale were offending at the breakdown once more and this time, albeit from a more difficult angle, the Saints number ten was in no mood to miss the opportunity and gave his side the lead. Sale 0-3 Northampton

With 17 minutes on the clock, Myler doubled the lead for the visitors with another successful penalty. The hosts were guilty of offending in the scrum and, despite the kick being on the halfway line, Myler managed to bisect the posts and put Northampton in front by six points. Sale 0-6 Northampton

The Sharks' indiscipline was costing them dear and it was another penalty in the scrum that gave Myler his fourth chance of the game. The Saints fly-half now had his eye in and knocked over the kick to give the Saints to perfect first quarter of the game. Sale 0-9 Northampton

Sale appeared to realise they had to act quickly before the game swept away from them and they got themselves on the board almost straight from the restart. After putting pressure on the Saints' line but then spilling the ball, Sale were awarded a penalty for a previous high tackle and Macleod was presented with a simple opportunity in front of the posts and closed the gap. Sale 3-9 Northampton

On the half-hour mark, the first yellow card of the evening was shown to Wales international and Sale scrum-half Dwayne Peel for dissent towards referee Tim Wigglesworth following a succession of penalties going in the visitors' favour. Despite having been awarded plenty of penalties and after deciding not to take the three points, Northampton were punished as Sale cleared the ball and survived the pressure.

With just a couple of minutes remaining before half-time, Northampton extended their lead back to nine points with a penalty. Referee Wigglesworth initially awarded a scrum but then changed his decision after David Seymour took the ball from an offside position. Myler wasn't going to argue whichever way the opportunity came and he added three more points. Sale 3-12 Northampton

Ill-discipline was the running theme of the game at Edgeley Park and with virtually the last kick of the first half, Sale brought the game back within six points with another penalty. Macleod's attempt was at least 35 metres out but the home side's fly-half still managed to convert the kick and moments later, the half-time whistle sounded. Sale 6-12 Northampton

The home side's problems continued into the second half as they gave away yet another penalty just five minutes in, this time the Sharks found guilty of killing the ball. Myler was still in a deadly mood and converted the kick impressively to push his record to five successful kicks out of six in the game. Sale 6-15 Northampton

Sale responded well to the early setback in the second half and won a dubious penalty of their own on 48 minutes. Northampton were adjudged to have had hands in the ruck, despite TV replays showing the ball was kicked back by a stray Sale boot but Macleod produced a good kick to cancel out Myler's effort just minutes before as the match see-sawed both ways. Sale 9-15 Northampton

Stephen Myler was producing a fantastic performance with the boot and on 55 minutes he extended the visitors' lead back to nine points with a superb penalty. Sale were caught offside in the midfield by referee Wigglesworth and Myler stepped up from just inside his own half to add the three points with a strong kick. Sale 9-18 Northampton

Northampton were soon becoming their own worst enemy and after having a kick charged down, they handed Sale possession from the lineout and, after a number of phases of pressure and a TV review, number eight Mark Easter crashed over for the home side. Macleod wasn't as successful with the conversion as he pulled his effort wide but it was certainly game on at Edgeley Park with 20 minutes left to play. Sale 14-18 Northampton

The game had suddenly turned on its head and the away side were put under further pressure when Calum Clark was sent to the sin-bin. After tripping up a Sale player off the ball, Clark was shown a yellow card for obstruction and it was now the Saints who had the numerical disadvantage.

It was soon to become worse for Northampton as referee Wigglesworth sent another Saints player to the sin bin. Sale were awarded a penalty from the Saints scrum and in frustration, Phil Dowson kicked the ball away and was then shown a yellow card. To compound the misery, Macleod kicked the quite simple penalty to bring the hosts back to within a point and Northampton were left with just thirteen men at the restart. Sale 17-18 Northampton

As was to be expected with two extra men, Sale were easily dominating the game and powered their way through the Saints back line to score their second try of the evening. Northampton's defence couldn't live with the regularity of Sale's attack and Dwayne Peel touched down to give his side the lead for the first time in the game. Macleod missed his second consecutive conversion but Sale were still in front by four points. Sale 22-18 Northampton

With just eight minutes left to play, Northampton gave themselves a route back into the match with the ever-dependable Myler striking his seventh penalty of the night. Sale were found to be offside once more by the referee and Myler grabbed the penalty from 40 metres out to bring the gap back to one point. Sale 22-21 Northampton

Calum Clark returned to the field for the visitors but Northampton still only had fourteen men and with that disadvantage, they suffered a knockout blow. Powerful play once again from Sale led to captain David Seymour scoring with a clinical try that virtually took the game away from the Saints. Macleod this time added the extra two points and Northampton were now out of bonus point range yet were back to their full complement of players. Sale 29-21 Northampton

Despite returning to fifteen men, Northampton were unable to find their way back into the match and could not even salvage a bonus point. From a game that looked comfortable on 55 minutes for the visitors, Sale turned up the heat fantastically and, although they had a numerical advantage, deserved to win the game due to their power and attacking play. The Saints will wonder how another game has escaped them whilst Sale Sharks continue their wonderful start to the season.

Man of the Match “ David Seymour