Sale FC v Bishop’s Stortford

Match Report – Bishop’s Stortford 29 Sale 15

by John Allanson (Bishop’s Stortford)

A hard-fought win against a dogged Sale side, that battled hard, despite being down to 14 men for all of the second half.

Stortford totally dominated the first half hour of this vital home game but were unable to break through a strong and committed Sale defence for almost half an hour. A number of penalties were conceded in keeping their line intact and Stortford settled for putting 3 points on the board through Tom Banks’ boot from one of these offences, with quarter of an hour gone.

Rhys Davies makes a great tackle supported by Johnny Leota and Dave Seymour (c) Andy Todd Photography

The home side was soon back on the front foot, but again found it hard to prise open the stubborn Sale defence. Almost inevitably, though a gap was eventually found, when, after 28 minutes a piece of improvisation by Coke Gearing Man of the Match, James Apperley caught the opposition momentarily off guard.

The tall flanker showed impressive ball skill in flicking up a loose pass with his boot into his hands almost without breaking stride and then beat the first defender, bursting through some 35 metres out and using Joss Linney on the outside as a foil to dummy past the next potential tackler, before outstripping the cover defence to score a great individual try. Banks’ conversion took Stortford out into a 10 point lead, but Sale now, aided by a couple of loose penalties conceded by Stortford, launched their first threatening attack of the game and clinically finished it from a driving maul from a lineout some 7 metres out, with prop, Simon Griffiths touching down for an unconverted try after 34 minutes. Drama remained before halftime, though, as the visitors looked to build upon their score, breaking again into the Stortford half. This time, though, their centre, Connor Doherty incurred the officials’ severe displeasure with a dangerous clear out of an opponent at a ruck, for which he was shown a red card immediately before the break.

Dan Birchall is strong in the tackle (c) Andy Todd Photography

Sale obviously hatched a plan over halftime to deprive the opposition of the ball and they were able to implement this with impressive efficiency for the first 15 minutes of the second period. They were so successful, in fact, that, within 2 minutes of the restart, they had taken the lead with a try to their other prop, Daniel Birchall, after a series of powerful drives by his fellow forwards, from another lineout in the Stortford 22, arising again from an unforced penalty conceded by the home side in midfield. Scrumhalf, Matt Bradley converted for a two point lead.

Stortford’s frustrations at being deprived of the ball were further increased, when Bradley kicked a penalty goal 14 minutes into the half after the home pack, previously edging the set pieces, was penalised at a scrum. At this point, though, Stortford began to win some ball and within 8 minutes had levelled the score through a try out wide to Rob Duff. The position had been won from an excellent break through the centre by George Keen, with the Sale defence being stretched to breaking point virtually on their own line. Recognising this, flanker, Andy Hughes cynically killed the ball, receiving a yellow card for his pains. Stortford opted for a scrum and quick ball down the line was all that was needed to see Duff over.

The conversion attempt into the breeze fell just short. Sale showed their continuing determination by keeping their line intact for the remainder of the sin-bin period, but almost immediately afterwards conceded another try after a great lineout steal by Apperley and a powerful run by Joss Linney, cutting in from his wing some 40 metres out to break a couple of tackles, but again he was stopped just short of the line.

This time the ball was quickly recycled, and George Cullen was on hand to crash over under the posts, giving Banks an easy extra two points. Stortford tails were now up, and it was Nick Hankins’s turn to be the provider 4 minutes later, when he fielded a kind bounce from a clever chip kick in midfield by Cullen. He almost made the line himself, but quick ball again from the breakdown found Jack Scantlebury piling through to touch down close to the posts for the crucial bonus point try. Banks rounded off the scoring with his third conversion.

Captain Andy Hughes takes control of man and ball (c) Andy Todd Photography

Credit has to go to the Sale side, who battled well throughout, despite being short-handed for half of the game, but with so much having gone against Stortford in the season to date, this was a crucial win and one that was well deserved by a team that overall posed a much wider range of attacking threats than the visitors.

Sale 2’s come up second best against the Sedgley Tigers.

Sale 2nd team hosted Sedgley Park 2’s on Saturday, looking for a win from one of their remaining two fixtures of their North West Intermediate Premier League campaign.

Adam Aigbokhae tackles Sedgley’s Jobe Johnson (c) John Hoye Photography

After their previous encounter with Sedgley Park earlier in the season, Sale were looking to make improvements to their performance, whilst at the same time keeping a full team on the pitch, after the last game saw us use up all our squad and finish the game with only 12 players by the end of it.

With the weather being overcast, and occasional showery bursts adding to blustery conditions it meant that the players were in for an interesting afternoon’s rugby, that as it turned out was not too bad a game, although there was more ‘windy conditions’ as the match went on.

So it was Sedgley who got us under way here at the CorpAcq with their useful No.9 A.J Potgieter kicking the ball in the direction of captain Ben Simpson, who immediately put Sale on the front foot making progress back towards the halfway line, before a loose pass that hit the deck was quickly followed up with Sedgley turning defence into attack leading to them heading to the corner only to be stopped as the referee deemed that there was insufficient advantage and the penalty was awarded.

Ben Simpson goes on the charge through the Sedgley cover defence (c) John Hoye Photography

From here Sedgley, pushed the ball wide through their pacey backs as they looked to get the first score on the board, however a knock on at the crucial moment gave Sale a reprieve and scrum deep inside their own 22m zone. At the resulting scrum Sale were able to clear their lines and run hard at the Sedgley defensive line, as they made their way up the field approaching the halfway line.

Sale’s progress here was halted as Sedgley were adjudged to have held on to the ball, something that led to the referee speaking to both captains allowing them to seek clarification regarding the reasoning behind the penalty.

At the restart with the penalty, Matt Simpson played the ball and Sale were seen to making good progress up the field, with the forwards linking up with the backs creating opportunities with each and every phase, unfortunately a loose pass here gave the ball back to Sedgley as Adam Aigbokhae knocked the ball forward just as he was about to make a clinical break through a hole in the visitors defence.

The game continued in this same manner for the next 10 minutes, as neither side could hold on to the ball sufficiently well enough to gain any advantage in the match. However, in the 14th minute Sedgley Park scored the first points of the game thanks in the main to their backs creating an overlap on the left hand side of the pitch for their centre No.18 to score unattended, with Potgieter kicking the extras it gave Sedgley a 7 point lead.

The lead was to be added to some three minutes later, as Sedgley flanker (No.6) finished off a well worked move from the lineout allowing him to score under the posts, Potgieter once again added the extras and the lead had become 14 points to nil in favour of the Tigers.After this score, Sale seemed to come back into the game with a mixture of well worked moves and a large number of phases that gave them some sort of momentum as the half ticked on. For most of the second quarter of this half Sale seemed to be the likelier of the two sides to score, only for them to either knock the ball on or lose possession at a vital moment, when any number of players could have reduced the arrears.

Sale edge ever closer to the Tigers try line (c) John Hoye Photography

Credit where its due however must go also to Sedgley who played their part in stopping Sale getting on the score board as their defence made a number of important tackles and line out steals giving them the ball when Sale were in the ascendency.

At the halftime interval, Sale were 14 points down but nevertheless in a good position to win the game. From the restart by Sale’s No.10 Callum Ramsey he seemed to put a great kick up in the air for the forwards to chase, as we looked to put Sedgley under pressure and turn the deficit around.

Unfortunately, the jump from captain Ben Simpson and flanker Andy Raw missed the flight of the ball and it lay firmly in the grasp of the Sedgley tight head prop Jobe Johnson, who managed to bulldoze his way through some strong tackles from the Sale defence, before he was able to offload to his teammates, leading to Sale ending up in their 22m zone.

As the attack continued it only seemed a matter of time before Sedgley would cross the line again for their third score of the afternoon, as their hooker cut a scything line across the Sale defensive line giving their scrum half Potgieter an easy conversion taking Sedgley out to a 21-0 score line.With Sedgley now firmly in the driving seat and looking to add further scores with every passing phase, it was the turn of their No.8 Luke Crampton to receive the kick off from Callum Ramsey, something that he seemingly took with great ease, before releasing it wide to their backs, who were relentless with their constant wave of attacks throughout the game that they charged at the Sale defence with.

Sale make excellent progress in the 2nd half where they were rewarded with a penalty try (c) John Hoye Photography

These attacking phases would lead them to score once more as their No.9 Potgieter put their second row Scott Murphy over in the corner, therefore giving Sedgley the try bonus point and that man Potgieter his fourth conversion of the afternoon and a 28 point lead to boot.

Sale looked for all intent and purposes that their afternoon was done after just 48 mins and the floodgates would open as they did earlier in the season, this thankfully wasn’t the case as the referee firstly dispatched Sedgley second row No.5 Greg Morgan to the bin for a shoulder charge before adding to their woes just a few moments later with a number of penalties for either repeat infringement or preventing the ball coming out from the base of a ruck.

Here the referee gave the Sedgley captain Crampton his final team warning, as Sale came to life and subsequently threatened to visitors line. This pressure was turned into points on the 55 minute mark, when winger Mike Agyei-King rounded off a wonderfully worked move for Sale to register their first points of the game, fortuitously Callum Ramsey was able to bounce the ball off the crossbar aided by a large amount of top spin as it went through the uprights to make the score 7-28 in the visitors favour.Even with only the slightest reprieve to Sale in terms of registering on the scoreboard, Sedgley crossed for the final time of the afternoon, as they pounced on to a Sale mistake, after they took advantage of a penalty given to them by the referee. At the ensuing lineout Sedgley won the ball with ease before going wide and giving Crampton the chance to cross the try line. Unfortunately, Potgieter wasn’t able to keep his perfect conversion record of the afternoon as he pushed it wide from the right hand side of the pitch. Just a short while later, the referee gave the Sedgley flanker No.6 a yellow card for dissent, as it was a team related offence this time around he was dismissed for, leaving Sedgley with 14 men on the park for the majority of the remaining 15 minutes of the game. With this extra man, Sale took full advantage of this opportunity creating chances for themselves through the hard work and effort from second row partners Witness Mandizha and John Blanchard Senior, who was tackled high forcing the referee to award Sale a penalty try under the posts, from what was a clear scoring chance. With the conversion part of the penalty try package Sale ended the game with 14 points on the board and a final score of 33-14 in favour of our visitors who took their chances well for the most part and rightly deserved the win, even though the referee awarded a considerable number of penalties against them during this fixture.

Matt Hoye stops Tigers Jobe Johnson (C) John Hoye Photography

Post-match Captain Ben Simpson was quite upbeat about the game, taking a large number of positives from the game, adding that the mixture of the youth and experience in the side will leave them in a good place for their Conference B fixtures that follow in the second half of the 2nd team campaign.

Sale Sharks and Sale FC Rugby Announcement

A Club Statement

“The agreement between Sale Sharks and Sale FC Rugby has fantastic benefits for both clubs as we work together to grow rugby in the Northwest. We are very excited about what this means to both clubs and in particular how this will take Sale FC Rugby to where we believe it should be.”

 

 

Steve Smith, Chairman , Sale FC Rugby

 

Sale Sharks and Sale FC Rugby To Work Even Closer

Gallagher Premiership Rugby club Sale Sharks and National One side Sale FC Rugby have announced an initiative to work together more closely than ever before.

The venture entails support from the senior club, on and off the pitch, with Sale FC Rugby rising to Championship status part of the long-term ambition.

Since the advent of professionalism at Rugby Union clubs, the Sharks and the FC have been connected for over twenty five years. Indeed, the Sharks played at the iconic venue of Heywood Road until 2003.Sale FC Rugby have the history and Sale Sharks the professionalism.

They have now agreed to work together more closely than ever before.This latest move allows the two clubs to retain their own identities. They have devised a philosophy that will assist Sale FC Rugby in their ambition to play Championship Rugby whilst avoiding financial difficulties, and concurrently develop Sale Sharks into the strongest rugby franchise in the country.Sale Sharks will continue to invest into its own Academy and also into Sale FC Rugby, making all three teams stronger in their respective competitions.

Whilst both organisations will continue to be separate entities, operating independently in accordance with their status within the game, their rugby departments will co-operate fully.

Corpacq, Morson and Sale Sharks will invest sufficiently and liaise with Sale FC Rugby’s Executives to enable Sale FC Rugby to become a sustainable ‘break even’ business, thus securing the club for years to come.

Sale FC Rugby will benefit from the loan of senior and talented young players on a wider level of availability. Sale Sharks, who have players gaining on-field experience at several clubs, will be able to keep more players at a higher matchday fitness level.The ‘sharing’ of players will strengthen all teams and create a development pathway which all parties believe will be ‘second to none’.Furthermore, Sale FC Rugby will have access to the Sharks’ coaches, dietitians, kicking and scrum coaching expertise and rehabilitation staff.

 

Sale FC edge thriller against Moseley

Sale FC cause heartbreak for Birmingham Moseley at the CorpAcq Stadium.

Sale FC were off to a flying start courtesy of a Kieran Wilkinson converted try in the opening minute of this National League 1 fixture against Birmingham Moseley at the CorpAcq Stadium, quickly followed by a penalty on 4 minutes which Wilkinson slotted home from distance giving the home side a 10 points to nil lead.

The visitors narrowed the gap with a penalty scored just a minute later.

With Sale’s Spanish international fly half, Emiliano Calle Rivas, on his home debut, orchestrating play, Sale were soon on the scoresheet again when, following a well-controlled lineout, the ball was quickly moved through the backs to winger Anthony Bingham who finished the move with a try.

With Sale controlling the game, Birmingham conceded a series of penalties, culminating in their captain Sam Brown receiving a yellow card as Sale tried to take a quick penalty.

Matt Bradley scored Sale’s third try moments later, following another well drilled catch and drive by the Sale pack.

Emiliano Calle Rivas celebrates with Anthony Bingham after he scores his second of the match (c) All Star Photography – Mark Ferriss

After 20 minutes, Sale had opened up a 17 point lead; however a counter attack by Birmingham following a break by Sale’s Calle Rivas drew a penalty on the Sale 22 line for which Matt Bradley received a yellow card.

Birmingham were able to capitalise on the opportunity, hooker Ryan Roach scoring and Williams converting. Another penalty, kicked by Williams reduced the deficit, the score at half time Sale FC 20 Birmingham Moseley 13.

Within a minute of the restart, Sale conceded a penalty which Birmingham’s Williams duly despatched. Birmingham took the lead on 55 minutes when winger Alex Hearle latched on to a kick deep in Sale territory, and outpaced the covering defenders to score, Williams adding the extra points.

Sale were quick to regain the advantage from a scrum on the opposition 5 metre line, number 8 Tom Ailes picking up from the base and driving over the line despite close attention from the opposition defence.

In the final quarter, Sale extended their lead with a try from Neil Briggs, converted by Wilkinson. The visitors responded with a try on 70 minutes from winger Roach, Williams quickly drop kicking the extra points to hurry the match along.

Matt Bradley crosses the try line to score for Sale FC (c) Gareth Lyons Photography

In the final 10 minutes both teams dug deep into their energy reserves, Sale regularly finding Johnny Leota to take on the opposition defence.

Pressure eventually told as a penalty awarded to Sale gave Calle Rivas the opportunity to find touch deep in the opponent’s half.

A textbook catch and drive had Sale putting the Birmingham defence under severe pressure before a quick release along the backs arrived in the safe hands of Anthony Bingham on the wing with one man to beat, and 15 metres to run. Mission accomplished!

Kieran Wilkinson narrowly missed the conversion from a tight angle leaving Sale to run down the last few minutes and secure a vital 5 points from this hard fought encounter.

Final Score Sale FC 37 – Birmingham Moseley 30

Kieran Wilkinson in full flow kicking the ball for a conversion (c) Mark Ferriss Photography

Sale v Birmingham Moseley

Team announcement for tomorrow’s game v Birmingham Moseley here at the CorpAcq Stadium.

Here is your starting line up to face Birmingham Moseley here at the CorpAcq Stadium, with a 3pm kick off. Tomorrow, we have 3 players making their home debuts for the club.

Recent signings Emiliano Calle Rivas starts at Fly Half, with Robbie Povey and Ed O’Keefe on the bench. For more details on the team please use the following link here

If you would like to take advantage of our Non-Members Triple Ticket Offer for the next three home games – 16th February v Birmingham Moseley, 23rd February v Darlington Mowden Park and 2nd March v Blackheath Rugby, then use the following link to book your tickets

Walking Rugby makes big stride forwards

Sale FC’s Walking Rugby makes steps in the right direction.

As part of Sale FC Rugby’s continued drive within its Community programme, Walking Rugby has made great strides forwards since its introduction earlier this season.

Walking Rugby was set up with the help of Sale Sharks Community Trust initially, before they handed the reigns over to Junior Coach Matt Hulme to continue on the sessions.

During each session participants who are both male and female, and of all ages come along to enjoy a different type of exercise, within the context of the game of rugby, that is run in a sociable and friendly atmosphere here on a Monday Evening from 6.30pm.

Importantly, it doesn’t matter whether you have played the game before, as the club welcomes all comers to the sessions. To read more about these sessions please follow the link here

Our Walking Rugby participants after a Monday Evening session here a the CorpAcq Stadium (c) Sale FC Rugby

For more information about these sessions please contact Marketing@salefc.com

Rosslyn Park 31 Sale FC 26

Sale FC Rugby came away with two bonus points in a thriller at The Rock.

The hosts almost took the lead immediately as they collected debutant Emiliano Calle Rivas’ kick off and kicked long but Paolo Odogwu did well to win a foot race with the pacy winger to earn a 22m drop out.

The relief was short-lived though as Park moved the ball quickly in their next attack allowing winger, Fadahunsi, to score in the corner and Lound added the extras. 0-7

The blue and whites bounced back almost straightaway though as, after several phases, Johnny Leota put a cute kick through the defensive line for Odogwu to pick up and score under the posts leaving an easy conversion for Calle Rivas. 7-7

Odogwu was denied another potential try when he intercepted a pass near his own try line but, as he turned on the afterburners, the ref pulled play back for an earlier penalty.

Matt Postlethwaite in hot pursuit of Rosslyn Park’s Charlie Amesbury (c) David Whittam Photography

The home side then began to dominate proceedings and scored two identical tries as, turning down the opportunity of 3 points, they kicked to the corner, won the lineouts and forwards Munro and Ellis powered over from close range. 7-21

Sale’s task was made even harder in the 25th minute when scrum-half, Matt Bradley, was adjudged to have deliberately knocked the ball on as the red and whites broke again (although footage after the game showed that the ball was actually knocked backwards by an attacking player).

From the penalty, Park again opted for touch and scored their bonus point try in similar fashion to their previous two with Ellis again touching down.

Half-time 7-28

Neil Briggs go in to make a tackle on the Rosslyn Park player (c) David Whittam Photography

Sale came out for the 2nd half with a new sense of purpose and were quickly on the front foot, forcing errors from the hosts that had not been seen in the first 40 minutes.

With Emi dictating play, the boys patiently built an attacking position before Jack Moorhouse spotted a gap in the defensive line to score under the posts which Emi converted. 14-28

The blue and whites were now in the ascendency with another debutant, Ed O’Keeffe, looking lively at full-back but, try as they might, they were unable to make any further impact on the scoreboard.

With ten minutes to go, replacement Kieran Wilkinson offloaded superbly for Matt Postlethwaite to stride away in midfield but the linesman indicated a forward pass and from the scrum, Park were awarded a penalty which Grove converted. 14-31Time was now firmly against Sale but they gave themselves a lifeline with a couple of minutes remaining as the forwards won a lineout and mauled towards the line with Leota hopping over from the base of a ruck to score, Wilkinson hitting the post with an attempted drop-kick conversion. 19-31

This, ultimately, was to prove crucial as it allowed time for one further play and as the boys kept the ball alive deep in their own half, Odogwu produced a moment of individual brilliance, slithering through the massed ranks before searing away from the covering defence to score in the corner.

Wilkinson added a fine conversion before the ref blew the whistle to end proceedings with Sale’s late, late show earning what could be 2 crucial bonus points.

Full-time 26-31

Team for Rosslyn Park

Sale FC Rugby travel to London tomorrow to face Rosslyn Park in their National League One clash. Kick off for the game is 3pm at Priory Lane.

Included in this week’s side are debutants Emiliano Calle Rivas at Fly Half, Ed O’Keefe at Full Back, who is in for the rested Jonty Rawcliffe and on the bench Canadian International Robbie Povey.

For your full squad list please follow the link here