Sale Sharks Women fought hard in tough conditions as they slipped to defeat in their first home game of the season to reigning champions Gloucester Hartpury.
Mia Venner opened the scoring early – running down the right wing and dotting down after just two minutes before Kelsey Jones tagged herself onto the back of a driving maul to give the visitors the fast start they were after.
Sale showed huge character under pressure throughout the contest and were rewarded seventeen minutes in, Roses star Morwenna Talling attaching herself to the back of the Sharks’ driving maul and crashing over for what was to be Sale’s only try of the game.
With ten minutes to go Emma Sing scored the only other points of the opening forty minutes as the teams battled through the muddy conditions to head to the changing rooms with ten points between them, 7-17.
It took a full twenty minutes of intense second half action for either team to get on the board. Unfortunately for the hosts it was Gloucester Hartpury with the try, securing their bonus point for the day.
The remaining eighteen minutes saw both teams continue to fight incredibly hard with huge collisions and lung busting runs leaving two sets of exhausted players shake hands at full time with the score 7-22.
Sale fans can now look forward to following their team on the road next weekend, as the team head to Trailfinders, before watching Sharks take on Harlequins back home.
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