By Citizen-Slacker
November 1 2011

Monday night’s A League game took place in a warm yet blustery Kingston Park & was well attended, supporters nearly filling the East Stand.

Sale got the first half started, with Luther Burrell dropping out & a frantic game was under way. Sale forced a couple of dropped passes & turned the ball over, with Darren Fearn making a brave tackle to stop the Sharks scoring, but doing some damage to his left arm. At the next breakdown Fearn was deemed to have come in from somewhere other than the back foot, which saw him penalised & leaving the field. Sale opted for the line out, which they won & drove over about 15metres in from the right touchline, Burrell converting.

From the restart Sale got the ball back & spun it wide to Falcons’ old boy, Charlie Amesbury, who still thinks it is better to cut inside rather than back his speed on the outside, so was tackled & lost the ball in contact. At the resulting scrum Sale were able to disrupt, fly hacking down the pitch, but with the try line beckoning Sale were penalised for diving in to the ruck, allowing Joel Hodgson to clear the lines with an almighty wind assisted boot. Falcons were able to take the ball up to the Sale try line in an almost carbon copy of Sales’ pre try move from the line, but they were deemed to have been held up. After two reset scrums the ref awarded Sale a free kick for a crooked feed.

The scrum was an interestingly interpreted piece of play all night, with the Falcons getting a penalty at the next one for Sale’s Ewan McQuillan not keeping his bind on, so Joel cleared again, but the next line out failed to get a jumper in the air for the men in black. The ball was worked to the far touchline & a kick through came off a Falcon’s foot for another line out, where Sale worked the ball in the midfield where Falcons were able to steal at the breakdown before knocking on. . Hodgson was again able to make a good kick under pressure, but the bigger & more physical Sale team went from their 10 metre line, Burrell breaking through the middle, but greedily not releasing Amesbury, so by the time young Charlie did get the ball he was bundled in to touch on the Falcons 5 metre line, taking a bang to the head on the way out & down. At the resulting line the Falcons missed their back jumper, the ball collected by a Sale forward who fell over the line for the easiest score he’ll ever get. Another conversion from Burrell & that was half time at 0 – 14.

The beginning of the second half was very harem scarem, with the drop out just making 10 metres against a strengthening wind, the ball being passed around quickly, but too quickly for Falcons hands & there was another knock on. Sale’s scrum was won & the kicked to within the Falcons’ 5 metre line. A scrum was awarded at the line out, again the Sharks being awarded a penalty for an offence, which they tapped quickly, bundling over the line, Burrell adding the extras.

Hodgson made a fantastic restart, but the Falcons were penalised again, I believe for not coming through the gate, possibly not working back onside. Either that or Diversity are recruiting dancers from the ranks of referees, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that gesture given before.

Sale forced a good defensive spell from the Falcons, who kept out several pick & drives, but eventually quick hands opened up a gap in the Falcons’ defence & they scored under the posts. Another Burrell conversion.

From the restart Sale got the ball back in their own 22 & ran it out, Burrell & Jonathan Davies linking well & barrelling through tackles, making it in to the Falcons 22 before knocking on. The Falcons won the scrum & cleared their lines again, but as I followed the ball in to touch I missed what ever caused the large bout of handbags between the forwards. After a captain’s chat & handshakes all round the game was back on.

Falcons managed to win the line out, if not in the way they intended, getting the ball to the right wing, breaking well in to the Sale half, but with a two on one beckoning the support runner over ran the ball carrier, leading to the resulting pass going forward. At the scrum the Falcons were able to turn the opposition front row through 180 degrees, but failed to get their hands on the ball. Sale knocked on but the Falcons were penalised.

Falcons seemed to be getting the upper hand with the scrums but little else. Another break, down the left wing, but knocked on once more in the tackle. Sale won the scrum, working the ball out & along the left touchline before spreading it back to the right wing & scoring.

The last play of the game saw Sale get to the try line once more but were held up before the line. Hodgson clearing to touch from the resulting turnover. Final score 0 – 35.

A couple of Falcons’ players stood out, young Joel Hodgson, who filled in at scrum half when required & never shies away from making tackles, David Watchorn who I seem to remember caught my eye a few years ago in a game against the Scotland under 18s, the fantastically named Mungo Strachan & Hamish Smales who didn’t look at all out of place.

For Sale, their centres were very good value, & young Jody Rose could be a decent enough player in time, but wasn't really trusted with the fly half duties despite wearing 10 on his back.