Rams vs Sale FC

Recap

Sale start 2026 with a win at Rams

Starting the new year in 5th position and within six points of the summit, Sale travelled to take on 6th placed Rams on a clear, crisp afternoon in Berkshire.

The hosts had the better of the early exchanges but, with their first real bit of territory, the Dogs struck to devastating effect. Good carries from Jos Gilmore and Seb Kelly took the blue and whites into the opposing 22. Fergus Mulchrone’s chip through was then collected superbly by the returning Tom Walsh who offloaded for Mark Dixon to stretch over the line on his 100th appearance for the club. 0-5

Sale had chances to extend the lead as they began to dominate but were thwarted on several occasions before Joe Green’s straightforward penalty kick on the stroke of the break. HT 0-8

The Dogs started the second period as they finished the first and extended the lead with another Green penalty after good work at the breakdown. 0-11

Defence had been on point thus far but, after enormous pressure from the home side, Sale could not prevent Oli Rhoads from dotting down after a clever cross kick from Andrew Lamb who then converted. 7-11

Untroubled by conceding for the first time, the Dogs bounced back with a try from Evan Mintern who strolled over the whitewash after a strong maul from the pack; Green was again on target. 7-18

With Rams beginning to throw caution to the wind, Sale defended manfully until Mikey Duda evaded the defence to close the gap with 8 minutes to play. 12-18

That was the last scare for the Dogs though as they managed the remainder of the game brilliantly to take a hard-fought win on the road. FT 12-18