A five-try second half performance saw Sharks overturn a five point half-time deficit to beat Harlequins and send a bumper Boxing Day crowd home happy.
The visitors edged a tight first half as the two sides scored two tries apiece but with the wind at their backs, an energised Sharks side surged ahead in the second period with 31 unanswered points.
A brace from Jacques Vermeulen and further tries from Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, player of the match Raffi Quirke and former Quin Nathan Jibulu gave Alex Sanderson the five-point win he wanted to keep his side in the hunt for a play-off place.
Both sides came into this fixture with a point to prove after heavy defeats in round seven, and it was the visitors who drew first blood.
An overthrown lineout on the Sharks line saw Quins’ England fly-half Marcus Smith dot down under the posts. He converted his own score to give his side a seven-nil lead.
Sharks hit back in the 9th minute when Alex Wills dived over in the left corner but Quins extended their lead on 12 minutes when Smith kicked a straightforward penalty.
The home side took the lead for the first time minutes later through a converted Luke Cowan-Dickie try but Quins had the last laugh as the clock ticked into the red.
Hooker Jack Walker pushed his way over after a lineout and a Smith conversion from out wide left the score 12-17 at the break.
The second half was a different story as an energised Sharks side tore into the visitors from the off. They got their reward on 46 minutes when Ernst van Rhyn broke through a hole in the defence and offloaded to Vermeulen to dive over.
Just eight minutes later the giant back-rower got his second when he drove over from short range to secure Sharks’ try bonus point.
Former Quins hooker Jibulu came off the bench to set up Ma’asi-White for a try on his return to the side after injury. And then player of the match Quirke, who was playing on the wing, got in on the act, chasing his own kick and forcing a mistake from Smith in his in-goal area.
The final word went, fittingly, to Jibulu as he powered over for Sharks seventh on his first appearance against his former club, to leave the score 43-17 and make sure Sale stayed in the hunt for the top four.
