As with all games in National 2, south could have taken the win, small margins lead to a win for Sale 20-14
Sale were looking for revenge against a South Leicester team they'd never beaten in the past 3 meeting, 2 loses and a draw, the last was a 42-39 win for south back in September 2016
South always seemed to have the upper hand and this match seemed no different when a series of errors saw South Leicester run in a try by Blane Howe after only 15 minutes, converted by Aley.
Sale managed to fight back before the break with Tom Ailes back from holiday showing no signs of jet lag to crash over the line. The conversion was missed and after many errors from both sides South went into the break 7-5 up.
After the break Sale picked up the pace and scored through Ollie Longmore with a conversion by Liam McGovern. South then hit back with a try by Nick Cairns, converted by Aley and suddenly it was 14-12 to south.
Sale put south under pressure, resulting in a penalty by McGovern, 15-14. A final try by Sales big pack, after a driving maul with 20 minutes to go by Scott Rawlings saw the final score 20-14
Although this wasn’t a great game to watch for the newcomer, this was a tense encounter that could easily have gone either way.
Make no mistake this was a game south could have won, against a top team, second in the league. South have consistently caused Sale problems over the past two seasons and continue to challenged in every game they play.