Sale keep pressure on at the top

Sale started the day in third place and in need of a bonus point win against fifth placed Bishop’s Stortford to keep pace with the top two in National One.

With Ladies’ Day festivities in full swing, the dogs started brightly, using their rolling maul to good effect.

The opening score came after 10 minutes when the catch and drive from 5m saw Jake Barron burrow over. 5-0

The visitors lost Austin Pope to a yellow card in the 23rd minute and Sale doubled their lead shortly afterwards when Josh Brown, stopped a metre from the whitewash, succeeded in offloading for the supporting Matt Bradley to score. 10-0

The blue and whites continued to dominate possession and territory but could not add to their score before the break. HT 10-0

It took just 2 minutes of the second period for the dogs to score again as Kieran Wilkinson made an incisive break before releasing James Robins to stroll in; Tom Curtis made no mistake from the tee. 17-0

The visitors were struggling to get any kind of foothold in the game and the bonus point try arrived in the 52nd minute when Tumy Onasanya blasted through the defensive line to score under the posts; Tom Curtis adding the extras. 24-0

The next ten minutes saw the Hertfordshire men play some good attacking rugby and they were rewarded when Alexander Rayment went over in the corner; Daniel Cole adding a fine conversion. 24-7

The dogs were to have the final say though, Ben Bamber doing brilliantly to charge down an attempted chip over the top before collecting the bouncing ball to score; Tom Curtis on target with the conversion. FT 31-7

A good all round display from the boys to earn another bonus point win at Heywood Road and a weekend off now to recharge the batteries for the final push.

In their first league season, Sale FC Vikings have walked away with the trophy with two games remaining. The game yesterday was watched by nearly 250 at the CorpAcq who saw the boys bring home five points to clinch victory. A mixture of Vets, Senior Colts, Ex-Senior Colts and this new to the game have shown up and stamped their authority on the league culminating with a 57-17 Victory yesterday against Bury 2ndXV! Well done one and all!

Crucial bonus point win sees Sale FC 1861 close the gap

Sale FC 1861 faced table-toppers and unbeaten Sheffield at Carrington looking to avenge their only defeat of the season back in November 2022.

Backed by a healthy and vociferous crowd, the girls got off to the perfect start in the 5th minute when, following a maul that was stopped just short of the tryline, the ball was recycled for Kim Seddon to blast through a gap and score under the posts; Aimee Wallace added the conversion. 7-0

1861 continued to press and were rewarded with a second try in the 19th minute, going through several phases before moving the ball wide for Sarah Cornforth to release Amber Hallmark to power in. 12-0

The visitors bounced back into the game a few minutes later as Cara Williams crossed the whitewash and Lucy Kilheeney converted. 12-7

The rest of the half was interrupted by injuries and the frequent blast of the referee’s whistle as both sides struggled to gain momentum. HT 12-7

The start of the second half saw superb breaks from both Georgia Sutherland and Kirsty Reid but it took until the 58th minute for us to extend our lead, the ref awarding a penalty try after we were stopped illegally with the whitewash in sight. 19-7

A yellow card for Georgia Sutherland allowed the away side back into the game and they took full advantage of the extra player as their centre scored a fine try from 40m out. 19-14

With the game firmly in the balance, the 14 players dug in, forcing several knock ones before Sheffield were themselves reduced to 14 in the 72nd minute after our maul to the line was disrupted unfairly.

This proved critical as we kicked to the corner, won the lineout and mauled to the line with Hannah Kurtz diving over to the delight of the home crowd; Aimee Wallace again on target with the extras. 26-14

1861 saw out the final few minutes without major alarm and celebrated wildly as Aimee Wallace gleefully kicked the ball into touch. FT 26-14

As expected, an intense battle against a very good Sheffield side but, ultimately, a fantastic performance from the girls to earn a vital win and close the gap at the top of the table to ten points with three games in hand.

Ferg hat-trick in big win

With no game over the last couple of weeks and having lost their place at the top of National One, Sale travelled to Surrey looking to keep in touch with the leaders.

Esher started the game brightly but Sale were soon in front when Stone Priestley-Nangle offloaded for the galloping Nick Gray to sprint in; Kieran Wilkinson converted. 0-7

The dogs doubled their lead in the 15th minute when Fergus Mulchrone offloaded out of the back of his hand to Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas who returned the favour for the former to stroll over; James Robins with the extras. 0-14

Sale were cutting loose at this point and added a third try on 20 minutes as Tom Walsh neatly released Fergus Mulchrone to dash in from 20 metres; James Robins again on target. 0-21

Esher were on the scoreboard not long after when winger, Dan Rowland, evaded a tackle to score out wide but the dogs secured a bonus point before half-time as we stole the ball near the hosts line and Matt Bradley passed for Tom Walsh to dive over. 5-28

There was still time for the home side to score a second try, Rowland crossing the whitewash again, with a good conversion from Sam Morley. HT 12-28

Esher began the second 40 brightly and were firmly back in the game when a successful penalty from Morley was followed by a hat-trick try from Rowland. 20-28

However, the dogs upped the tempo and stretched their lead again, through the prolific Josh Brown; James Robins making it 4 out of 4 from the tee. 20-35

Sale then scored, arguably, the try of the season, running from our own try line and offloading at will before Fergus Mulchrone released Tom Walsh to score his second. 20-42

The hosts reduced the arrears again in the 69th minute, Andy Hamilton racing over in the corner and the try-fest continued in the 75th minute when replacement, Sean Street, dived over for his first try for the club. 27-49

The dogs put the icing on the cake with the final play of the game as Fergus Mulchrone broke free in midfield and charged in to complete his hat-trick. FT 27-54

A superb game with a plethora of attacking rugby for the spectators to enjoy but, ultimately, an important 5-point away win for Sale.

11 tries as cup run continues

Sale FC 1861 travelled to the North East on Sunday to take on Novocastrians IIs in the last 16 of the Women’s Intermediate Cup.

After an early period of pressure and a couple of strong carries from Katy Bodey, India Perris-Redding skirted round the outside of the defence to open the scoring. 0-5

A few minutes later the lead was extended as Georgia McCulluch picked off an intended pass and strode in from 20m with Aimee Wallace converting. 0-12

The blue & whites were certainly not having everything there own way but on 17 minutes Amber Hallmark scythed through a gap to touch down and, not long after, Willow Bell collected an excellent kick through the defence from Aimee Wallace to score in the corner. 0-22

Further tries from Hannah Kurtz and India Perris-Redding, both converted by Aimee Wallace, gave 1861 a convincing lead at the break. HT 0-36

The North-East side made life difficult at the start of the second 40 but, just after the 50-minute mark, we disrupted a line out, Zena Francis carried over 30m and Kirsty Reid kicked on, winning the race to score. 0-43

Hannah Kurtz and Amber Hallmark doubled their tallies for the game to take 1861 out of sight and late late scores from Zena Francis and Sarah Cornforth added a touch of gloss to the score. FT 0-69

A comprehensive win to take us into a home cup quarter-final against Crewe & Nantwich on Sunday 5th March.