The PSA era opened formally at Edgeley Park on the 5th of September 2004, with an early afternoon kick-off against Leicester Tigers in the late summer sunshine. Sale got off to a good start, but Mike Hercus’ unreliable kicking kept the Tigers in the game and it stayed tight and tense until near the end when second half sub Charlie Hodgson gradually pulled Sale clear with a solid kicking performance. Next up, a six try, 30-33 thriller away at Wasps with the teams neck and neck throughout the 80 minutes, and Sale finally sneaking the win thanks to a 79th minute Charlie Hodgson penalty. Then it was back to Edgeley Park for the visit of Saracens, coached by Steve Diamond, recently of Sale, and featuring a fistful of ex-Sale players. Two Mark Cueto tries in the first 5 minutes suggested an easy evening’s work, but Saracens fought back, with Nicky Little landing a series of accurate penalties. The gap stayed at ten points through the rest of the match but the 25-15 final score was enough to take the Sharks top of the Zurich Premiership. September finished with an 8-try massacre of Premiership new boys Worcester and Sharks still top of the table, one point clear of Leicester.

A trip away to Leeds gave us another 4 points, with a narrow win after Leeds had fought back to 11-all, and the match was finally won by a late Charlie Hodgson drop goal.  However, the first Premiership defeat of the season followed when London Irish visited Edgeley Park the next week. Irish got their noses in front, but Sale seemed to have won it when Charlie Hodgson kicked a penalty late in the game. However, there was a sting in the tail and Irish won, kicking a penalty at the very end, much to the displeasure of the crowd. A comprehensive 6-23 win away to Saints brought us to the international break, second in the Premiership.

A narrow home win against Newcastle followed. Falcons pulled well ahead, but then Sale came back to trail 20-22 at half time. Only at the end did the Sharks pull clear with two late tries, securing a bonus point win and going back to the top of the table. However, a weakened Sale side then travelled down to Bath and lost 27-13, enough of a slip to let the Tigers go back to the top of the Premiership. It was back to the southwest the next week for another bad experience, this time conceding four tries to Gloucester and dropping to third in the table.

After a long lay-off from Premiership action, Bath visited Edgeley Park after Christmas. Sale took an early lead and Bath never recovered. At New Year, the Sharks travelled to Kingston Park and seemed to have done enough to win, but Jonny Wilkinson brought Falcons back into the game with an 80th minute try, then slotted the conversion to win 30-29. At the end of the month, the Hodgson-Hanley combination led to two tries as Sale overcame Saints comfortably in Stockport to secure third place in the Premiership.

Mike Hercus was the hero of a 6-9 win away at Irish in early February, scoring all the Sale points as the Sharks clawed their way back to second in the table. A comfortable win over Leeds at Edgeley Park followed, Charlie Hodgson putting in a fine kicking display in difficult conditions to put aside his previous week’s problems in an England shirt. Late in the month, Worcester got their own back for their early-season hammering in Stockport, beating a weakened Sale side 23-10. This was followed by defeat at Saracens, conceding a try bonus, and a narrow loss to Wasps in front of a sold-out Edgeley Park. Wasps took early control and led 3-14 at half time but, following a high tackle and a punch-up, Steve Hanley dominated the last half hour of the game, scoring two tries, and Josh Lewsey just tipped a last minute conversion wide to prevent Sale salvaging a draw. In spite of these wobbles, Sale remained third in the table but in early April, a 6-try battering at Welford Road pushed Sale down to fourth.

Back at home against Gloucester, Sale got their title challenge back on track in mid-April, with a comfortable 4-try win. They concluded the regular season with a narrow 22-23 win away at the Stoop. Quins, desperate to avoid relegation, took an early lead, but Sale came back and edged ahead in the 72nd minute with a converted Mark Cueto try. At the bitter end, Jeremy Staunton sent a penalty wide, ensuring Quins’ relegation. Sale moved on to a play-off semi-final, but folded in the second half away at Wasps, finally losing 43-22 to the eventual Premiership winners.

Regular season summary-

Played 22 Won 13 Drawn 0 Lost 9
Points for 513 Points against 442
Tries for 51 Tries against 43
Try bonus 4 Losing bonus 4
Total points 60

Highest league position 1
Lowest league position 4
Final league position 3

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