Sale FC 22 Bishop's Stortford 1st XV 8

Stortford got off to a quick start and were 5 points ahead within 2 minutes, with the home side apparently caught cold. Quick ball swung across the field and a miss pass to Rob Duff on the right wing allowed him to get round the outside of his opposite number and an accurate pass inside allowed Sam Winter to burst over the line for an unconverted try. The visitors remained on the front foot and extended their lead with 5 minutes gone with a George Cullen penalty. Sale rallied, though and scored their own penalty goal after 11 minutes for what seemed to be a harsh penalty for not releasing at a tackle, though the attacking player appeared not to have gone to ground. As the game went on, the home side gained a slight edge, enjoying an increasing share of possession. It was Stortford, though that came close to scoring again after 26 minutes, when a break up the middle by Winter put his side on the front foot, but a knock-on close to the opposition line snuffed out the threat. Stortford continued to press, but two poor tactical kicks allowed Sale to counter-attack, leading to the major turning point of the game, when Cullen was yellow carded on 30 minutes for a deliberate knock-on. The home side drove home the one man advantage immediately, driving over from a 5 metre lineout to level the scores and showed the benefit of their extra experience over the next 10 minutes in scoring two more converted tries by driving repeatedly up the middle through their powerful forwards, before switching the ball quickly wide for their very skilfull back three to exploit the visitors’ stretched back line.

The value of the 19 points added during the yellow card period became increasingly evident, as the second half progressed, with Stortford appearing increasingly frustrated, as a combination of stout Sale defence and crucial handling and alignment errors foiled a series of threatening attacks. James Apperley and Seb Brownhill showed up prominently for the visitors, but the home side also came close to a couple of scores on the counter and were undoubtedly deserved winners after a scoreless second half. This was a remarkable outcome, with both sides looking to attack at every opportunity, but two strong defences ultimately came out on top. On the balance of opportunities Stortford could feel disappointed that they had not at least gone away with a losing bonus point against a well organised side, including a number of outstanding players - notably their loosehead, Adam Aigbokhae, who constantly threatened with ball in hand around the fringes, number 7, ex international, David Seymour in the thick of things at the breakdown and winger, Paulo Odogwu threatening whenever he got his hands on the ball, as might be expected from a player, who had appeared for Sale Sharks in the Premiership last week.