It’s #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek next week, so we’re asking you to join in with Inside Out Week. #LooseHeadz #InsideOutWeek.
The first team, Tricky The Mutt and our Minis and Juniors all joined in this weekend to highlight Children’s Mental Health Week next week.
 Sale FCPlymouth Albion 
10th February 2024
31 - 3Full Time |
Sale and Plymouth entered the game at Heywood Road in contrasting form with “The Dogs” having won their last two and Albion on the back of two straight defeats.
The hosts made the perfect start with only a minute on the clock when a kick through went loose behind the whitewash, allowing Mark Dixon to pick up and score the easiest of tries; Tom Curtis converted. 7-0
The visitors were soon on the scoreboard though with a 40m penalty from full back, Tom Putt, and began to dominate both possession and territory. 7-3
Only good fortune and fine defensive work prevented Albion from adding to their initial score and it was somewhat against the run of play that Sale extended their advantage as Nathan Langdon sneaked down the blindside to dive over; Curtis added the extras. HT 14-3
The blue and whites began the second half brightly and, after a barrage of phases near the try line, the ball was flung wide for Tom Walsh to cross in the corner; Curtis landed a fine conversion. 21-3
That score only served to spur the hosts on further and the bonus point try arrived in the 59th minute when the forwards proved unstoppable from 5m, Josh Brown the beneficiary; Curtis made it 4 from 4. 28-3
A penalty from the boot of Curtis extended the lead further and, despite a late yellow card for Andy Hughes and a couple of opportunities, Albion were unable to reduce the arrears. FT 31-3
Another important win for “The Dogs” to lift them further away from the bottom of the table and give them real belief for the last third of the season.
| Team | Tries | Con | DG | Pen | Points | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sale FC | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 31 | Win |
| Plymouth Albion | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Loss |
| Date | Time | League | Season | Full Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th February 2024 | 15:00 | National One | 2023-2024 | 0' |
| Sale FC |
|---|
| Heywood Road, Brooklands, Sale, Trafford, Greater Manchester, North West England, England, M33 3WB, United Kingdom |
Sale FCCinderford 
3rd February 2024
21 - 15Full Time |
Both Sale and Cinderford headed into this game with a firm eye on their league positions relative to the bottom of National League One.
The visitors got off to the perfect start when centre, Jacob Shortland, cruised through a gap in the home defence with less than 3 minutes on the clock; Joe Winfield converted. 0-7
Cinderford continued to enjoy the lions share of possession in the early stages but Sale gradually worked their way into the game, only stout defence and the odd handling error preventing them from opening their account.
The hosts were unable to take advantage of a yellow card shown to Cinderford full back, Michael Wilcox for a deliberate knock on but, when Will Riley was sin-binned for Sale shortly before the break, Winfield made no mistake from the tee. HT 0-10
The ‘Dogs’ started the second period with renewed vigour and cut the deficit in the 48th minute with a try from debutant prop, Tye Raymond, who crashed over following good work from Tristan Woodman; James Robins added the extras. 7-10
After a mid-half lull, Sale surged ahead in the 62nd minute, Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas making a dent in the defence before skipper, Andy Hughes, picked up and dived over; Robins again on target. 14-10
Undaunted, the visitors applied the pressure at the other end and retook the lead in the 76th minute when hooker, Nathan Taylor, dived over from the back of a rolling maul. 14-15
Defeat looked inevitable, but Sale went into all-out attack mode and somehow kept the ball alive deep in Cinderford territory for Andy Hughes to make it through a stacked defence to score his second and, ultimately, the match winning try; Tom Parkin put the icing on the cake with the conversion. FT 21-15
A game that could have gone either way but Sale take the spoils to move out of the bottom 3 at the expense of the visitors.
| Team | Tries | Con | DG | Pen | Points | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sale FC | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 | Win |
| Cinderford | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 | Loss |
| Date | Time | League | Season | Full Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd February 2024 | 15:00 | National One | 2023-2024 | 0' |
| Sale FC |
|---|
| Heywood Road, Brooklands, Sale, Trafford, Greater Manchester, North West England, England, M33 3WB, United Kingdom |
The rescheduled match against Cinderford is on this weekend. After the frost that hit us two weeks ago, we’re back at Heywood Road to face the men from the Forest of Dean. If you want to book (or re-book) pre-match the make sure you get in early. Stay tuned for our social media posts with all the news for this weekend!
Although we’re playing better and we’re winning games, we need as much noise as we can get down at Heywood Road this weekend. The England vs Italy game will be on in the bar and the main game will KO at 3pm!
A 10-21 victory away on the road, wouldn’t have been big news this time last year. However, 12 months is a long time in sport and given we’d gone from top to bottom in that time, we needed a win and what a win it was. Blackheath threw everything at us and the Dogs responded.
The first half was a tight affair and Sale seemed to be in the referee’s bad books. Three points early on by Blackheath was followed by a charged down kick which popped up for Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas to score under the posts. Even though we went in 3-7 at the end of the first half, we were lucky that the Blackheath Fly-Half was finding the swirling wind difficult as he missed three penalties and even our ever reliable James Robins missed one, bouncing off the post. The first 40 wasn’t by any means a classic for the spectator, but for true grit and determination, both sides gave everything.
The second half saw Blackheath reduced to 14 players with a yellow card, they weren’t shackled by the lack of numbers and lovely move from a line out saw a clean break through our defence to a score under the posts for Blackheath, 10-7. Sale stepped up their attack after Blackheath had returned to 15 men and under pressure the Blackheath scrum-half was yellowed for a deliberate knock on. Sale were now able to exploit more width as Blackheath’s danger man Alex Noot, was moved from Fullback to Scrum-Half. A great run by Tom Walsh, scored under the posts and we were at 10-14. With time running out for Blackheath they threw caution to the win and to be honest, if this was three months ago, they’d have put us away. What followed was a defensive masterclass. Line speed forced Blackheath into errors whenever they looked like crossing the whitewash. The resulting penalties released the massive pressure being applied by Blackheath who were looking to land a killer blow. Sale’s defence held firm forcing one final mistake allowing the ball to go loose and Tom Walsh finally allowed to show his pace, racing in from 60 metres to beat the cover in the dying moments. 10-21.
The resurgence of the suffocating defence from last year, the belief in each other and the trust seemed to have returned.
This weekend we take on a wounded Cinderford who having been on the receiving end of a Chinnor battering (0-57) will be looking to test us at Heywood Road and regain some of their pride.
Unfortunately the 1st XV game today is postponed due to frozen pitch. Tickets and hospitality can be refunded or moved to the rescheduled fixture. All hospitality bookings will be contacted directly.