Sale Sharks Women fired themselves into the top four for the first time with a gritty win at home to extend their winning run to five games in a row.
The first ten minutes were dominated by Bristol’s attacking game but Sharks held firm and Erica Jarrell-Searcy opened the scoring fifteen minutes in, making a huge dent in the Bristol line with her pick and go from close range.
Bristol responded immediately, recovering the kick off and carving their way through and Buisa dived over to make it 7-7 on 20 minutes.
The battle continued and it wasn’t until ten minutes later the deadlock was broken. The Sale pack went to work before it was whipped wide and Shona Campbell finished in the corner to give Sharks the lead heading in at half time.
The second half was just as competitive but Sale played smart rugby. The home side knocked over consecutive penalties with the boot of Lizzie Duffy to extend the lead to thirteen points before scoring their third try.
With the last play of the game the whole team piled into the driving maul to power Katie Childs over and give Sale the big finish the crowd had been looking for.
Sharks now sit in fourth off the back of the 25-7 victory and head to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next weekend with their sights set on upsetting Saracens ‘Big Game’.
