Sharks bitten by Banahan

Matt Banahan's last-gasp try handed Bath a sensational 24-20 win over Sale in an enthralling encounter at The Rec.

With Sale seemingly heading towards what would have been a valuable away victory, Banahan latched onto Alex Crockett's chip kick to cross with just seconds remaining.

The visitors were good value for their lead, a brace from Mark Cueto and a 10-point haul from the impressive Luke McAlister putting Phillipe Saint-Andre's men on the brink.

However, 11 points from Butch James and a try from Daniel Browne kept Bath in contention before Banahan stepped up to clinch a sensational win.

Sale travelled to The Rec looking to bounce back from their shock Heineken Cup defeat to Montauban, as third hosted fourth in a crunch clash at the top end of the Guinness Premiership.

Bundled

There was certainly little in the way of Christmas spirit in the opening exchanges, Sebastien Chabal and Justin Harrison clashing and igniting a near 30-man brawl.

Sale opened the scoring on 10 minutes after a fantastic piece of improvisation from Dwayne Peel. The Sharks No.9 took a quick tap-kick and broke the gain-line, he then fed Charlie Hodgson who in turn helped the ball on to McAlister who sped home in the corner.

Chabal was then sent to the sin-bin after clashing with Michael Claasens and things went from bad to worse for the visitors just seconds later, as when play restarted Browne bundled his way over the try line and James converted to put Bath 7-5 ahead.

In an extremely competitive clash, ill-discipline once again got the better of Sale and the visitors were briefly reduced to 13 men when Stuart Turner was binned for cynically not rolling away. The incident led to a Bath penalty which James dispatched clinically.

Despite their numerical advantage for the majority of the first half, Bath failed to capitalise and even had skipper Michael Lipman sent to the bin on 27 minutes before the visitors struck.

A concerted spell of pressure saw the ball spun out to Cueto, and the Sharks full-back nearly made a mess of the two-on-one situation before he scrambled his way over the line.

Effortlessly

A superb conversion out wide from McAlister put Sale 12-10 ahead, however a swift response from the boot of James saw the lead change hands once more as Bath led going into the interval.

McAlister and James exchanged penalties straight after the restart as both sides continued to lose their discipline.

Sale dominated possession and territory, and with 13 minutes to go the visitors got their just rewards. Cueto somehow managed to fashion an opening before effortlessly sidestepping Nick Abendanon to score under the posts.

Remarkably McAlister struck the upright from the resulting conversion so Bath remained within four points.

James, at the second time of asking, reduced the arrears to 20-19 with seven minutes remaining with his fourth penalty to set up a pulsating final few minutes.

As the clocked ticked towards full-time, Bath produced the most superb finish to a fantastic game as Banahan struck. Crockett's kick was inch-perfect, and the Bath winger collected the ball and powered over to seal one of the most dramatic wins The Rec has witnessed in recent times.