Winning ugly has never been a particular trait of Sale sides.

How many times, for example, have we trudged away from either Heywood Road or Edgeley Park lamenting a defeat to the 10-man style of rugby that has been favoured by some of our more 'esteemed' rivals down the years. The all-too-familiar feeling that substance had triumphed over style once again?

Yet Philippe and Kingsley have brought a new hard-nosed approach to our play. Champagne rugby is still the ideal, of course, but an ugly win means more than going down with all guns blazing and, while it may not be the 'Sale way', let us not forget that professional rugby is ultimately a results business.

The latest chapter of 'Winning Ugly: The Stockport Years' came at Edgeley Park on Friday night as the autumn international window started with the visit of a Wasps side who felt they had some unfinished business in the north west having lost last season's Guinness Premiership semi-final 'oop north'.

Both sides were weakened by international call-ups, with the likes of Andrew Sheridan, Magnus Lund, Charlie Hodgson, Mark van Gisbergen and Paul Sackey plus 'injured internationals' Mark Cueto and Tom Rees missing, yet whenever Sea Bass and Lawrence Dallaglio are in opposing corners fireworks (pun count - 1) are usually guaranteed.

As it was, Simon Amor was the first Wasp to have contact with the big Frenchman, a pat on the head for the scrum-half putting him firmly in his place inside the first minute before Jeremy Staunton squandered the first scoring opportunity as his penalty - after Sale were penalised for holding on in the tackle - fell short and wide.

Having adjusted his radar, the Irishman did slot the first points of the game just six minutes later but within four more Sale were on level terms as Messrs White and Day provided the go-forward deep into Wasps territory from a free-kick and Le Jim clipped over a penalty after the visitors had been pinged for offside.

A couple of bullocking runs from Sea Bass - one through Alex King and one through Jonny O'Connor - brought the crowd to their feet, as did a lovely arcing run from Jason Robinson, and it was soon 6-3 to the Sharks as Le Jim slotted his second penalty of the night after Wasps had again strayed offside. Surely even Dallaglio couldn't argue with this one...although he still took the opportunity - not for the first or last time on the night - to chip in with his two-penn'orth to referee Chris White

Thereafter a spell of intense Wasps pressure followed but some great defending - including crucial tackles from Nacho and Bruno virtually on their own line - meant their only reward was another Staunton penalty. And Le Jim's unerring accuracy with scoring kicks ensured that by the time the half-time whistle went, Sharks had pulled into a 12-6 lead as first he slotted a penalty after a good drive from the Sale pack, then recovered after a slip to send a drop goal between the posts on the stroke of half-time.

As the temperature plunged, Daisy and the Bear were the 'lucky' two to be withdrawn at the break - allowing them to chuck on a couple of extra layers - with Dean Schofield and Ben Evans replacing them, while Wasps threw World Cup winner Phil Vickery into the fray.

The second half started as scrappily as the first had, with referee Chris White caught in a ruck (on the Sale side, surprisingly) within two minutes of the restart. It goes almost without saying that Dallaglio was at his side within seconds to help him up although this time he didn't appear to have anything to complain about.

Four minutes later the gap was halved to three points by another Staunton penalty after White (or should that be Dallaglio?!) had penalised White but Le Jim quickly took his, and Sale's, tally to 15 with another penalty before he was withdrawn and Lee Thomas came racing on.

A lull in the scoring - as first Thomas missed a drop goal attempt then Staunton sent a penalty wide - enabled the crowd to enjoy some fireworks off the pitch for a change as the locals celebrated Bonfire Night a couple of days early before Sea Bass did his bit to liven up things on the field as he emerged from a maul with Richard Birkett's scrumcap as a souvenir to the delight of the Sale fans and the obvious irritation of Birkett himself.

Then came the moment that looked to have wrapped up the match for Sale as Ben Foden skipped clear and raced towards the Wasps tryline...only to be pulled back as referee White had blown - giving not a second thought to the advantage rule - for an infringement by Amor.

Two minutes later the lead stretched to nine as Thomas nervelessly slotted a penalty from distance, a feat that saw countryman Evans punch the air with delight as Wasps now needed two scores to claim an unlikely victory.

And in the end they managed just one as the last play of the game brought a bonus point for Wasps as a Dave Walder drop goal ensured they 'only' lost by six points.

As news of Bristol's defeat by Newcastle filtered through, the Sharks basked (pun count - 2) in the knowledge that they had slotted into second place just a point behind the early-season table-toppers and the same distance ahead of Wasps.

PSA was bursting with pride at the post-match press conference, although he did admit that it hadn't been an open game. He wasn't wrong - the match took up two sheets of my notebook when others have taken as many as five - but as Mrs Trellis wrote on the message board, a win is a win is a win.

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