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Jordan Davies made his debut for the Sharks against Bath last weekend

Sharks fail to make LV= Cup semi final

Saturday, February 6th 2010

Sale Sharks were on the receiving end of a six try defeat at the Recreation Ground on Saturday Most of the damage was done in the opening quarter as Bath built up a big lead.

Bath: N Abendanon; J Cuthbert, M Carraro, R Davis, M Stephenson; B James, S Bemand; D Barnes, P Dixon, D Bell, S Hooper (c), P Short, D Browne, G Mercer, B Skirving.
Replacements: L Mears, N Catt, A Jarvis, J Faamatuainu, J Ovens, M Baxter, T Cheeseman, J Maddock.

Sale: M Vakacegu; O Ripol, J Davies, D Bishop, B Cohen; M Atkinson, C Leck; G Kerr, M Schwalger, M Halsall, D Schofield (c), S Cox, C Fearns, D Seymour, K Ormsby.
Replacements: M Jones, R O'Donnell, D Birchall, C Jones, I Kench, W Cliff, A Cheeseman, D Doherty.

Sale Sharks found themsleves 21-0 down within the first 17 minutes of the game with tries being scored by Stephenson, Carraro and Dixon. Davis converted all three tries for Bath.

Sharks started to get their game together and Ormsby crashed over for a try on 28mins and Mark Atkinson reduced the arrears with the conversion to 21-7. Atkinson's conversion was his first points as a first team player having graduated through the Academy.

Bad news followed for Sharks when Ormsby hobbled off moments after scoring his try with a leg injury and was replaced by Chris Jones.

Bath scored their fourth try when Stephenson collected a Butch James cross field kick to touch down to the delight of the home fans. Ryan Davis made it 4/4 with his touchline conversion.

Half Time Bath 28 Sale Sharks 7


Stephenson completed his hat trick of tries when he followed up a Bemand grubber kick to touch down. Davis converted and kept his 100% kicking record intact (35-7).

Cohen,Schofield and Fearns all tried hard to try and reduce the arrears but Bath defence coupled with handling errors by the Sharks thwarted any comeback to reduce the arrears.

Sharks made several substitutions around the hour mark and one was Marc Jones, who signed a new deal with the club this week. In one of his first drives forward the referee didn't manage to get out of the way and Marc flattened him accidentally, bringing a big cheer from the crowd.

Sharks managed to get better territory as the game wore on and managed to cross the line only for the referee to rule no try. Bath were guilty of plenty of infringements and the referee sent Mercer to the sin bin after losing his patience. The crowd became impatient with Bath's tactics and at one stage the supporters organised a 'Mexican Wave' !

Late in the game Ben Cohen was yellow carded by the referee.

Bath scored their sixth try in stoppage time after good work by Maddock, which Davis failed to convert with the final kick of the game in what was a miserable day in the West Country for the Sharks.

Sharks ended their LV=Cup campaign with one win in four games.

Sharks will now regroup and plan for their next game which is the Guinness Premiership game at Wasps on Valentines Day. The Guinness Premniership is now the only focus for the Sale Sharks and the team will be looking to climb the table and try and finish in the top half and hopefully earn a Heineken Cup place for next season

Final Score Bath 40 Sale Sharks 7