Saints march past Sharks

Northampton moved a step closer to booking their place in the semi-finals of the LV= Cup with a hard-fought victory over Sale at Edgeley Park.

Fly-half Stephen Myler claimed a 15-point haul during a 20-14 win which puts Saints four points clear at the top of Pool Four with one round of games remaining.

Sale, who were trailing 17-0 in the early stages of the second half, fought back well courtesy of tries from Charlie Hodgson and Sisa Koyamaibol, but a spirited defensive display at the death saw Saints hold on for the win.

The hosts headed into Friday night's match boosted by the news that scrum-half Dwayne Peel has signed a new two-year deal at the club.

There were also welcome returns for prop Jack Forster and flanker David Seymour. Wing Ben Cohen, full-back Marika Vakacegu and centre David Bishop started behind the scum.

Fluent

Northampton were captained by Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe with Dylan Hartley on England duty, but wing Chris Ashton was available despite being included in Martin Johnson's Six Nations squad.

The Heineken Cup quarter-finalists made a fluent start despite missing their international stars and they claimed the game's opening try within four minutes.

Centre Joe Ansbro got his hands through some weak midfield defence and found Ashton on his inside, the wing finding Mayor for the centre to race over against his former club, Myler adding the extras.

Sale's poor start was compounded when they lost Forster to injury, Martin Halsall coming on as his sixth-minute replacement.

The Saints continued to dominate possession and the pressure got to the Sharks as hooker Marc Jones was penalised for not rolling away and Myler knocked over a simple penalty to extend the visitors' lead.

But Northampton were dealt a blow when flanker Neil Best, who will join Worcester next season, was sin-binned after flooring opposite number Chris Jones as he chased a loose ball.

Sale responded with their best spell of the match but they were let down by some basic handling errors that saw them turn over possession in some promising positions as half-time loomed.

Composure

The difference between the teams was highlighted when Northampton scored immediately following the interval.

Sale turned the ball over in their own 22 and it was fed wide to wing Paul Diggin, who stepped inside some poor inside defence to dot down by the posts, Myler's conversion making it 17-0.

But the Sharks finally turned some of their pressure into points in the 55th minute.

After being camped on the Saints line for phase after phase, fly-half Hodgson took it upon himself to twist through a Fernandez Lobbe tackle to score a try which he converted.

Myler then slotted his second penalty to give the away side a 20-7 lead, but Sale continued to have a huge edge in territory and possession although it looked as though a lack of composure and countless handling errors would stymie their fightback.

Koyamaibole then barrelled his way over from a five-metre scrum with five minutes to play to set up an exciting finale, but Northampton held on.