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Sale Sharks 34 Newcastle Falcons 28


By Whaley Shark
May 10 2015

Well, our new, dazzling away strip, which we tried out yesterday, seemed to prompt the team to some dazzling passages of play, especially in the first half. Indeed, the first example came almost straight from the kick off, where a stolen lineout and Danny’s sleight of hand picked the lock of the Falcons’ defence and let Josh Beaumont break free. His neat pass sent Chris Cusiter over.

Not that Falcons planned to be just bit part players. A few minutes later, our defence parted like the Red Sea, which makes their centre, Adam Powell, Moses, and he crossed almost unchallenged. The conversion went wide, though, leaving us narrowly ahead. It must have been an afternoon for porous defences though, and it was our turn to break from half way as Tom Arscott made good ground, then worked the ball out right. As Tom Brady closed on the Falcons’ line, Mark Cueto appeared from the other wing and Tom generously gave him the ball. Even more generously, the Falcons’ players let him touch down under the posts- not sure Deano will have been wild about that gesture, sporting as it was.

Two penalties for Falcons, and one for us, moved the score to 17-11 as the first half drew to a close, and the last significant action was a Sam Tuitoupou try, from a penalty to the corner and a few phases in the Falcons’ 22. Turning round 24-11 ahead surely meant we were on track for a comfortable win?

Fifteen minutes into the second half, we answered another Falcons’ penalty with a bonus point try, originating in another Josh Beaumont break, some great support running from Sam and finished off by Dave Seymour. 29-14 should have seen us safe but, no, that’s not the Sale way….. Falcons built good pressure from a penalty to the corner and battered their way over to take the scores to 28-21 as the game went into the final ten minutes. A few minutes later, our classic rolling maul gave TJ Ione his first Sae try and restored some breathing space. Surely, that’s enough? Nope- we seemed to be fading and leaked another try. With the conversion, Falcons were back in striking distance at 34-28, and they spent the last few minutes chasing the winning score. However, as they built pressure on our five metre line, we nicked the ball and, in their desperation to recover possession, Falcons conceded a penalty and brought the game to a close.

So that’s that for another season as far as I am concerned. The lads travel away at Exeter next weekend- the odds are against us, especially given Exeter’s win at Saracens this afternoon, but good luck to the team. And best wishes to the retiring Mark Cueto and Nathan Hines, and to the departing Will Cliff, Michael Paterson and Marc Jones. A final reminder- this board will go to sleep in a fortnight if someone doesn’t provide material for the front page. Over to you guys…………

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