Sale Jets recorded a bonus point 29-12 victory over Newcastle Falcons at Heywood Road in the Aviva A-League on Monday evening.
Sale Jets recorded a bonus point 29-12 victory over Newcastle Falcons at Heywood Road in the Aviva A-League on Monday evening.
The Jets fielded a strong side, featuring established first team players such as Jonathan Mills, Neil Briggs, Sam Tuitupou, Johnny Leota, David Seymour, Peter Stringer and Magnus Lund.
The game got underway, and it was the visitors who made the better start scoring a try after two minutes. Belisario Agulla charged down a Stringer box kick and charged into the Sharks 22. Fly half Craig Willis spread the ball wide and Glen Young crashed onto a flat pass to score under the posts. Willis added the extras to make it 0-7.
The Jets rallied and started to apply pressure in the Falcons half, but the visitors defended well, and forced the Sharks to surrender the ball a few times.
The breakthrough for Sale was after 21 minutes, when replacement Matt Rogerson took a quick tap penalty 5m from the Falcons try line, and charged over to score a try. Dan Mugford slotted the conversion to make it all square at 7-7.
However, Newcastle fought back immediately through their big number eight Opeti Fonua, who was wearing number ten on his back. He charged through Peter Stringer at the back of a moving driving maul to score in the corner. The conversion was missed, which made it 7-12 after 26 minutes.
The game then swung back in the favour of the home side, following a deliberate knock on by Newcastle deep in their own half. Mugford kicked to the corner, to leave a lineout in the Falcons 22 for Sale to attack. After a big drive, Ciaran Parker ended up at the bottom of the driving maul to score his first try in 2 and a half years. Mugford got the conversion to give the Jets a 14-12 lead after 32mins.
Newcastle attempted to get a further score as the half-time interval was approaching but brilliant defence from the home side prevented this which left the scores at 14-12.
The second half got underway, and the Jets wanted to kill the game off early, and went for another try. Tyrone Holmes was shown a yellow card after 45 minutes from referee Andrew Jackson, following an infringement at a driving maul. The Jets kicked to the corner, and had a 5m lineout. This time around, the Jets got the score they wanted, and Neil Briggs touched down, thanks to the power of the Jets forwards. Mugford added the conversion to make it 21-12.
The Jets' experience was proving too much for Newcastle, with Sam Tuitupou, Nev Edwards and Ciaran Parker looking strong in attack, as the home side went on the attack to get a fourth try.
On 69 minutes, replacement hooker Curtis Langdon won the Jets a penalty for holding on, and then referee Jackson marched Newcastle back a further 10 metres, which gave Dan Mugford a chance to kick for goal. The fly-half stepped up from 35m out and slotted the penalty to make it 24-12.
Nic Dolly & Arron Reed came on to the field with 5 minutes to go, making their Jets debuts, with them being the latest players to come through the Sharks Academy.
The Sharks scrum was becoming dominant in the later stages of the game, and they earned a penalty try. Sam Tuitupou missed the conversion.
The final score was 29-12 to the Jets.
