By TigersTart
September 11 2003

A sense of deju vu descended onto Edgeley Park, the new home of Sale Sharks, as Leicester were behind and it felt like the previous Friday night at Cardiff. Having clawed back from 19-0 down to beat Cardiff 22-23, a new pattern was emerging. Tigers V Sale

Pre-season friendly at Edgeley Park - Friday 29 August 2003

Tigers give away points in first half but produce the goods in the second half. Tigers did just that against Sale and pulled out all of the stops in a magnificent second half effort, clinching a hard fought 16-17 victory over the Sharks.

All credit most go to a hard, attacking Sale side who persistently laid siege at the Leicester line, running from deep and driving through the forwards. Experience lay at the heart of this, as full back Vaughan Going was one of the main catalysts and fly half Braam van Straaten was the key points provider. However, Tigers had an answer as young full back Tim Taylor also showed his talents by engaging into the back line of play and both Taylor and fly half Sam Vesty used their boots intelligently.

It was yet another weekend without England internationals as a record 7 players were on duty for the French game – Graham Rowntree, Julian White, Dorian West (as captain), Martin Corry, Lewis Moody, Austin Healey and Ollie Smith – the first of a double header against the gallic side, away in France on Saturday 30th August and at Twickenham on Saturday 6th September. Other first teamers training with England were Tigers personnel Martin Johnson, Neil Back and Ben Kay all preparing for the World Cup.

Sale kicked off the first half and early encounters were marked by both teams seeking a tactical route and using the boot to gain territory on the Stockport County Football Club pitch. Sam Vesty missed an early opportunity to put Leicester in the lead.

In the 6th minute, Vesty acted as playmaker, shipping the ball wide or chipping over Sale’s defence. Sale were attacking all over the park, pining Tigers down. In the 9th and 10th minute Sale had two opportunities to kick for goal, which were both turned down in favour of kicking to touch and going for the 7 points instead of the 3 points. At the second lineout, Kronfeld turned over possession and Vesty cleared the ball into touch. Strong, tight defence by Leicester held up Sale and repelled the onslaught.

In the 12th minute, Harry Ellis kicked an up-and-under from a scrum, which went into touch. Sale’s flanker Phil Davies took the catch from the lineout and ran through Tigers defence, but winger John Holtby came off his line to superbly tackle, turn over ball and make it playable for Vesty to clear the pressure. Having made such an impact as a substitute at Cardiff, and with Luke Myring injured, Holtby thoroughly deserved making the starting 15.

Sale broke the scoring deadlock, as in the 16th and 21st minute van Straaten kicked two penalties. In between, Tigers looked promising as lock Tom Ryder stole possession and Taylor came into the line, but was bungled into touch. Sale gathered Tigers drop out and kicked over Holtby, Taylor gathered and sent Yomi Akinyemi down field.

After van Straaten kicked a high up-and-under, Ellis gathered and Vesty kicked out. Sale’s winger Hoyle fumbled the ball, so Akinyemi picked up and passed inside to Vesty and Gibson played a sweet grubber kick. Vaughan kicked back possession, but Taylor was on hand to return back in the 24th minute. Three minutes later Ellis was penalised and van Straaten missed a shot at goal, as it bounced off the posts. Sale sped down the blind side in the 29th minute, through Jos Baxendell and Going but the ball went forward.

Akinyemi failed to gather an up-and-under in the 35th minute, as he picked up from the floor, and the incoming defence failed to faze him as he ran out from Tigers half. Holtby had been obviously taking lessons from the Steve Booth school of running, as he produced a mazey run through the covering defence in the 38th minute, to make ground, passing inside to Ellis. An incident in the 37th minute, near the end of play, saw lock Louis Deacon sinbinned.

Leicester came out fighting in the second half, initially down to 14 men and down 6-0. After they kicked off, a sweet break by Leon Lloyd saw him step inside the defence to score. Vesty added the conversion, making Tigers 6-7 in the lead within the first minute. Sale counterattacked straight away, spreading the ball wide and a diagonal run by winger Mark Cueto saw him over in the corner in the 45th minute. Another Sale break in the 52nd minute saw a solo effort by replacement Steve Hanley who touched down. Van Straaten couldn’t convert either of the tries.

With the score at 16-7, Vesty missed an ideal platform to drop a goal. Tigers put together a stronger pattern of play, as in the 55th minute, Akinyemi made ground, with heavy weight replacement Henry Tuilagi taking on the ball, recycling back and making more ground. Flanker Will Skinner, who impressed as a substitute last week at Cardiff, set up a nice period of play, as fellow back row colleague Adam Balding took on the ball setting up Holtby who had the support of Vesty and Ellis. Sale infringed, and Vesty narrowed the deficit with a penalty in the 62nd minute.

With 15 minutes to go, Sale were in the lead by 6 points. Deacon caught Tigers lineout ball and the pack drove, spreading the ball through Ellis to Gibson, Akinyemi and Taylor, but Sale turned over possession in the tackle. Sale went down to 14 men after lock Iain Fullarton was binned. Tigers pressed hard with this advantage and were awarded a penalty. Vesty kicked to the corner and after a lineout, captain Kronfeld was under the pack over the line. Vesty scored the conversion, edging the score to 16-17.

The last 5 minutes, as well as injury time, saw Sale pressurising Leicester. Tigers pack drove back Sale, as Going tried to counterattack. Sale’s forwards set up a good fed to scrum half Nick Walshe and Jos Baxendell pulled an attempted drop goal. Sale shipped the ball wide through Cueto but he only had hooker Matt Cairns in support on the wing. Tigers were awarded a free kick and Ellis chose to run, gain a few metres and Vesty kicked to touch, which ended the game.

A game that was predominately composed of the boot – up-and-unders, kicking over the defence, shots at goal and kicking to touch - produced a ping-pong like effect between both teams. Sale certainly dominated the first half and posed questions to Tigers defence, but Taylor and Vesty, and Ellis at one time, had the confidence to take on the high balls and provide some back in return. A more committed and concentrated second half performance saw Tigers edge home through a hard working pack and exciting backs. Kronfeld lead Leicester by example and Taylor, Akinyemi, Vesty and Ellis all had good games.

For the pending kick off to the Premiership, despite a defeat at Perpignan, the games against Cardiff and Sale have provided Tigers with the knowledge that they have the strength to turn around a losing score line into a victory. All three pre-season games have provided Manager Dean Richards with the platform to try out manoeuvres and game plans, as well as squad members. The team spirit and the Tigers juggernaut is back in town and ready to take on the Premiership.

Scoring sequence:
16 mins Sale pen Braam van Straaten 3-0
21 mins Sale pen Braam van Straaten 6-0

41 mins Tigers try Leon Lloyd 6-5
Tigers con Sam Vesty 6-7
45 mins Sale try Mark Cueto 11-7
52 mins Sale try Steve Hanley 16-7
62 mins Tigers pen Sam Vesty 16-10
73 mins Tigers try Josh Kronfeld 16-15
Tigers con Sam Vesty 16-17

Kicking statistics:
Sam Vesty (Tigers) MISS PEN, 2 CON, MISS DROP, 1 PEN
Braam van Straaten (Sale) 2 PEN, MISS PEN, MISS 2 CON
Jos Baxendell (Sale) MISS DROP

Date: Friday 29th August 2003
Time: 7.45pm k/o
Weather: cool and dry
Crowd: 2,000
Ref: Dave Pearson
Man-of-the-match:
Sin-bin: 37 mins Louis Deacon (5) (Tigers) for stamping
71 mins Iain Fullerton (5) (sale) for punching

Tigers team:
15 Tim Taylor
14 Yomi Akinyemi
13 Leon Lloyd
12 Darryl Gibson
11 John Holtby
10 Sam Vesty
9 Harry Ellis
1 Michael Holford
2 George Chuter
3 Ricky Nebbett
4 Tom Ryder
5 Louis Deacon
6 Josh Kronfeld (CAPT)
7 Will Skinner
8 Adam Balding
Reps: 16 James Buckland (76 mins on for 2 Chuter), 17 Darren Morris (63 mins on for 1 Holford), 18 Henry Tuilagi (50 mins on for 7 Skinner), 19 Luke Abraham, 20 Tom Tierney, 21 Dan Hipkiss (59 mins on for 13 Lloyd), 22 Glen Gelderbloom, James Hamilton (63 mins on for 4 Ryder).

Sale team:
15 Vaughan Going
14 Mark Cueto
13 Jos Baxendell
12 Dan Harris (CAPT)
11 James Hoyle
10 Braam van Straaten
9 Nick Walshe
1 Andrew Sheridan
2 Matt Cairns
3 Barry Stewart
4 Dean Schofield
5 Iain Fullarton
6 Stuart Pinkerton
7 Magnus Lund
8 Phil Davies
Reps: 16 Johnny Roddam, 17 Kevin Yates (56 mins on for 1 Sheridan), 18 Stuart Turner (73 mins on for 3 Stewart), 19 Chris Day, 20 Graeme Bond (63 mins on for 12 Harris), 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Steve Hanley (46 mins on for 11 Hoyle).