14-man Tigers go top

Leicester Tigers played with 14 men for an hour but still emerged with a 37-31 victory over Sale Sharks at Welford Road to go top of the table.

Alesana Tuilagi and Mark Cueto had swapped tries before Scott Hamilton went over for Leicester in a frantic first 20 minutes that saw the home side 17-10 in front.

Julian White then saw red for Leicester as he floored Andrew Sheridan with a right hand to the jaw on 22 minutes, leaving the Tigers with nearly an hour to play with a man less.

Cueto grabbed his second try and Neil Briggs went over early in the second half and Sale led 25-20 with half an hour to go and it was an uphill battle for the hosts.

However, they kept battling away and got their reward with Dan Hipkiss and Hamilton, again, going over in the space of seven minutes, before Sam Vesty sealed it with his try ten minutes from time as the Tigers roared into the lead at the top of the Guinness Premiership.

Frantic start

The Tigers had the perfect start after just six minutes when Tuilagi took a short ball at pace and marched over the line with Matthew Tait being dragged along in his wake.

Toby Flood and Charlie Hodgson exchanged penalties before Cueto showed his devastating pace when he screamed in under the posts after a clever reverse ball from Hodgson, with still only 11 minutes gone.

It was Leicester's turn next on 19 minutes, as Vesty made an explosive break from midfield and, although Sale's scrambling defence initially stopped the raid, quick ball was recycled and wing Hamilton was able to glide in with ease.

The big moment of controversy came on 22 minutes when, after a tussle between the two props and England team-mates, Sale's Sheridan jabbed out at White and missed, but the Leicester man certainly did not and his solid right hander floored the huge Sheridan.

Referee Wayne Barnes saw the incident clearly and had no option but to bring out the red card and reduce the Tigers to 14 men for almost an hour.

The Tigers made light of the man disadvantage though with Geordan Murphy in particular looking dangerous, but four minutes before the break Tait showed his quick feet with a step that found enough space for Cueto to exploit and finish expertly for 17-15 at the half.

Sale flying

Hodgson and Flood exchanged kicks again early in the second half, before Sale grabbed another try through the unlikely source of hooker Briggs, who showed good hands to gather and surprising pace to sprint over the line for 25-20.

The 14-man Tigers continued showing great desire though, and on 53 minutes they produced a stirring move, started by Murphy, continued by Tom Croft and ending with Tuilagi's superb offload for Hipkiss to score - and when Flood missed the extras a pulsating contest was tied at 25-25.

Martin Castrogiovanni set up a pounding few phases from the Leicester forwards on the hour mark, and the backs followed that up as Flood looked up and slipped a perfect low kick in for Hamilton's perfectly-timed run, and the New Zealander scored his second try as Leicester were back in front at 32-35.

Hodgson kicked a penalty in front of the posts with 15 minutes left to play, after Ben Kay was lucky to escape the sin-bin after stopping the ball coming out right underneath his own posts.

Leicester kept battling, and in truth the man advantage did not seem evident - as they showed with ten minutes left when the ball was switched from right to left and Vesty showed the dummy and dived over for 37-28.

Hodgson kicked a late penalty to grab a bonus point for Sale but it was Leicester's day as they moved to the top of the table with two games left to play.