Sale march on to make it 12 wins on the spin

Hinckley ................ 18pts Sale ........................ 26pts

CHRIS Johnson scored 16 points as Sale moved clear at the top of the table with a deserved success over Hinckley at Leicester Road.

The two sides, who began the day joint on points at the summit, welcomed an energetic bumper crowd, with a terrific level of rugby on display throughout a very aggressive contest.

But the visitors, who are now on a run 12 consecutive league wins, were the more clinical when opportunities presented themselves.

In defence, Sale had the relentless efforts of man of the match Adam Aigbokhae, among others, to thank for keeping the hosts quiet until late on.

Sale head coach Jonathan Keep was thrilled his side maintained their fabulous vein of form.

“I’m very proud of the boys,” said Keep.

“Coming to Hinckley was always going to be a difficult challenge as they’re a very physical, abrasive team.

“But we managed to take our chances, and we showed guts and determination to get the result, especially after going down to 13 men in the closing stages.

“I really couldn't have asked any more of my players.”

Sale’s powerful number eight Jake Barron set the tone for the game when he bulldozed his way through two Hinckley defenders for the opening try with Johnson adding the extras.

The fly-half then extended the visitors lead with a penalty before the home side struck back with David Peck crossing the whitewash.

However, after Joe Wilson missed the resulting conversion, experienced stand-off Johnson slotted two penalties before the break to give Sale a comfortable 16-5 lead at halftime.

Another kick from Johnson pushed the visitors further ahead before Wilson stopped the rot for the hosts and give them a foothold with a kick of his own, 8-19.

Hinckley captain Alexander Salt then reduced the deficit to six tries after finishing from the back of the scrum.

However, Sale’s Aaron Reed intercepted soon after to re-establish the visitors’ advantage before Johnson kicked them clear with the resulting conversion to make it 18-26.

With the visitors down to 13 men, winger Callum Dacey’s late try brought the hosts within touching distance but Wilson's wayward conversion attempt meant they fell one agonising point short of a losing bonus-point.

Hinckley director of rugby George Chuter held no punches with his evaluation of his team's performance.

“You have to take your chances when you're playing a team of Sale’s quality if you want to get anything,” said Chuter.

“We simply made too many mistakes and didn’t take our chances to win the game out there; far too many missed kicks and sloppy passes.

“It’s easy to say we deserved this and we deserved that but ultimately we've come away with nothing.”