By Birstall Tiger
May 30 2006

Well here goes for my first ever match report. Done from in front of the telly watching the sky coverage. In Birstall the rain has stopped and the sun is attempting to break through, unfortunately at Twickenham it looks like it's pouring down. Hopefully we've planned for the weather. Both teams are near full strength, Sale without the injured Andrew Sheridan and Sililo Martens, while Tigers are without the now fit again pair of Seru Rabeni and Scott Bemand.

Sale have the kick off and Charlie Hodgson kicks high, Lewis Moody takes it and passes to Andy Goode who finds touch in the Sale half. Then I wake up and Moody has actually knocked on giving a scrum to Sale just outside the Tiger's 22. Sale move forward slowly through seven phases before Ollie Smith steps offside giving Sale a kickable penalty. Hodgson slots the penalty, three minutes gone Tigers 0 Sale 3.

From the restart Moody gets up and taps the ball back, however between them Harry Ellis and Graham Rowntree pull back Andy Titterell and Sale get the penalty. Hodgson puts the penalty to touch and from the ensuing line out the ball goes back to Hodgson who kicks an up and under which Geordan Murphy takes well in the 22 and calls for the mark. Murphy finds touch on the 10 metre line. Play moves from one side across to the other side where Goode kicks to touch inside the Tigers 22. From the line out Hodgson puts in a cross kick which Murphy can't hold, Mark Cueto gets a bit of luck as the ball hits his leg and rolls over the try line, Cueto drops on the ball for a try confirmed by the video ref. Hodgson misses the conversion, eight minutes gone, Tigers 0 Sale 8.

Goode restarts and the ball is fed back to Hodgson. His attempted clearance is charged down by Shane Jennings, Smith hacks it on and Moody plants the ball down over the try line. The video ref gives the try which is well converted by Goode. Tigers 7 Sale 8.

Goode then has a chance to put Tigers in the lead with a penalty attempt after Alex Tuilagi's run is ended and the ref deems Titterill to have entered at the side of the ensuing ruck. Unfortunately Goodes kick goes wide.

Goode fails to find touch with a kick out of defence but Sale play it straight back to him, however Goode then kicks out on the full giving Sale a line out just outside the Tigers 22. From the line out Sale scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth goes through the lineout and kicks ahead, Goode fumbles the ball and Magnus Lund hacks on and just beats Moody to the ball and gets the touchdown, this again confirmed by the video ref. Hodgson misses the conversion. Tigers 7 Sale 13.

22nd minute and Daryl Gibson gets his first touch of the ball (unfortunately he knocks on).

A good kick through by Sale is well dealt with by Murphy beating the onrushing Cueto and kicking to touch. From the line out Sale's Chris Jones is taken out and Hodgson slots the penalty. 31 minutes gone Tigers 7 Sale 16.

A good run from Wigglesworth ends when Lund is tackled and George Chuter comes in from the side to concede a penalty which this time Hodgson misses.

A Murphy run is stopped by a Mark Taylor tackle, but Taylor fails to roll away and Goode kicks the penalty. 35 minutes Tigers 10 Sale 16.

The final passage of play of the first half starts with the ball at the back of a ruck with Ellis weighing up his options, Sale prop Lionel Faure is twice warned by ref Dave Pearson to get onside but immediately Tigers knock on. Penalty to Tigers for offside? No, scrum to Sale. The scrum is reset but Tigers fail to engage properly and Sale get a free kick. The ball moves from right to left (where Tom Varndell manages to half stop Sebastian Chabal) and then back again to the right where a great dummy from Hodgson sees him set up Oriol Ripol for a try converted by Hodgson. Half Time Tigers 10 Sale 23.

Sale replacement, Dean Schofield on for Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe. Goode kicks off the second half and again Moody gets up well and taps the ball back. Tigers manage to get to within a metre of the Sale tryline but good defence by Sale keeps them at bay but at the cost of a penalty for offside. Goode kicks for touch and Tigers have a lineout 5 metres out. Corry is taken out in the lineout and Tigers get another penalty which Goode converts, Tigers 13 Sale 23.

Sale restart and the ball goes to Goode who finds touch just outside the 22. From the lineout Leo Cullen concedes a penalty for barging and Hodgson converts. Tigers 13 Sale 26.

Sam Vesty comes on for Alex Tuilagi and his first action sees him tackled on half way, the ball is hacked forward where Goode is first to the ball but is penalised for holding on. Hodgson converts. Tigers 13 Sale 29.

Vesty then offloads well to Moody who goes between two defenders but throws a wild pass which is kicked forward by Cueto, luckily Gibson gets back to cover but Sale get a scrum. Austin Healey on for Ellis, Louis Deacon for Jennings for Tigers, Sebastien Bruno and Barry Stewart on for Titterilll and Turner for Sale.

James Hamilton on for Cullen.

Michael Holford comes on for Rowntree and a couple of minutes later James Buckland replaces Chuter. At the next scrum Tigers are penalised and Hodgson slots the ball over the posts. Tigers 13 Sale 32.

A promising Tigers move ends when Vesty's chip through for Varndell is stopped just short of the try line by Jason Robinson and Ben Kay strays offside to give Sale the penalty.
Leon Lloyd replaces Smith and Christian Day comes on for Chabal.

A good counter attack by Cueto sees him put Chris Mayor away, he's stopped just short but as Pearson plays advantage Hodgson drops a goal to put Sale further ahead. Tigers 13 Sale 35.
Tigers manage to mount some pressure and get a penalty 5 metres out. Corry taps and goes but is stopped just short but Hamilton gets over for a try converted by Goode. Tigers 20 Sale 35.

Ben Foden replaces Wigglesworth and Chabal returns for Jones.
A long kick by Robinson sees Vesty turned over but Tigers are then penalised for coming in at the side and Hodgson kicks the penalty. Tigers 20 Sale 38.

Valentin Courrent replaces Elvis Seveali'i.

The last play of the match saw Tigers looking for a consolation score, however Healy's loose pass is taken by Lund who puts Mayor away for a 60 metre breakaway try converted by replacement Courrent for a final score of Tigers 20 Sale 45.

On reflection Sale played the conditions very well with the low kicks forcing plenty of errors. Tigers however appeared to not have a plan A never mind a plan B.

Birstall Tiger.