Sale battle back in a game of two halves

SALE boosted their hopes of clinching a home play-off thanks to a strong second-half performance which secured a bonus-point victory at home to Chester in an intriguing contest.

Sale director of rugby Jonathan Keep was impressed with his team’s display, completing the turnaround after a strong start from the visitors.

Chester found themselves 12 points to the good with just 16 minutes on the clock courtesy of James Preston’s first two tries of the afternoon, and Keep paid testament to their opponents.

“I was pleased with how we performed, despite a lacklustre first-half performance with Chester going ahead early on,” he said.

“Luckily for us, we came out in the second half and were able to turn it around with quick scores.

“Chester are always a difficult side to beat and they dominated the first half with their pack. They had a very good start, there’s no doubt about that.”

Sale got to within a score of Chester midway through the first half, but it was the early stages of the second period that they really turned up the heat and pulled clear on their way to victory.

The home side came out firing after the interval and just three minutes later they found the referee darting under the posts to award a penalty try following Chester’s impediments in the lineout maul.

Just moments later, Tom Ailes showed off his power as he forced his way through the visiting defence to cross the whitewash and hand his side a 21-12 lead – turning the match on its head.

Ailes was again involved as Sale extended the lead. His offload opened the gap for Andrew Hughes to dot down before Liam McGovern maintained his perfect kicking form to knock over his third conversion of the afternoon.

After all the entertainment in the early stages of the second half, both defences looked to have plugged all the gaps with no scores coming until the dying moments.

Preston was able to complete a deserved hat-trick and bag Chester’s third try of the afternoon with a well-executed long-range score with just seconds left on the clock.

Callum Bennett added the extras but the damage had been done early in the second half enabling Sale’s drive to a home play-off spot.

And Keep highlighted the powerful restart as the perfect platform for his side to go on and claim the victory.

“I think Chester had the wind knocked out of their sails with those tries coming in quick succession. One was a penalty try, I know, but they all count.

“All of a sudden we went from 7-12 down to 28-12 in the space of about 11 minutes.

“The defences at this level are normally very good, but I think both sides were really struggling. They had a very good start and then we came back in the second half.”