Accurate goal-kicking from Nick Macleod helped Sale to a deserved 16-9 win over Bath in their Aviva Premiership clash on Friday.
The win lifted Sale up to sixth in the table and sets up an intriguing Heineken Cup shoot-out with rivals Gloucester next weekend.
In a game of fine margins it was Rob Miller's 72nd-minute try that proved the difference between two sides desperate to win.
The Sale full-back hacked on a loose ball and showed great pace to beat opposite number Nick Abendanon to the touch down. Fly-half Macleod added the extras.
Until then all the points had come from penalties - three apiece for Macleod and Bath's Olly Barkley.
Bath took the lead at the end of the first quarter when Sale's Andrew Sheridan was penalised for taking out Dave Attwood in the air in the line-out and shown the yellow card.
The visitors were unable to punish Sale further, although things could have been different had Matt Banahan not suffered a 'Devon Loch' moment the night before the Grand National.
Banahan caught his big toe in the Edgeley Park turf when unopposed and in the clear from an interception, much to the amusement of the home crowd that included watching England boss Stuart Lancaster.
Instead it was Sale who scored next, with Macleod making it 6-3 at half-time through two penalties.
Bath were heavily penalised at the breakdown in the third quarter, during which time Sale extended their lead to 9-3.
Shortly afterwards Bath pulled three points back thanks to Barkley's boot, but that was as good as it got for Ian McGeechan's men whose own European hopes look all but over.
The scorers:
For Sale :
Try: Miller
Con: Macleod
Pens: Macleod 3
For Bath :
Pens: Barkley 3
The teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou (c), 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Andy Powell, 7 David Seymour, 6 James Gaskell, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Andrei Ostrikov, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Joe Ward, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Vadim Cobilas, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Cillian Willis, 22 Will Addison, 23 Charlie Amesbury.
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Matt Carraro, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Carl Fearns, 6 Ben Skirving, 5 Stuart Hooper (c), 4 Dave Attwood, 3 David Wilson, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Charlie Beech, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Ryan Caldwell, 20 Josh Ovens, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Sam Vesty, 23 Dan Hipkiss.
Referee: Greg Garner
Comments
APV1 says...
How much faster would Biggs be, if he had a stream-lined head?
@ NHsaints - I'm quite looking forward to the end of the season now. We're (I hope!) safe from relegation and unlikely to qualify for anything in Europe. So we'll have next season to get the foundations in and do better in the AP. Europe the season after. And silverware the season after... Perhaps.
SIM has spectacularly failed to deliver and is on his way out. I'm just curious who's on their way in - coach(es) and players alike...
Posted 15:28 16th April 2012
NHsaints says...
Oooh unlucky banahan, got to say though that bath have been dismal over these past few rounds...and how did Andy Sheridan take out a jumper at the lineout when he's a lifter? Confuzzling.
Posted 12:54 14th April 2012