Sharks sink Falcons

Sale emerged from a tense Guinness Premiership opener at Newcastle with a 14-9 win against the Falcons at a soggy Kingston Park.

Charlie Hodgson gave the Sharks an early lead with the solitary try of the game and the visitors managed to hold on from there.

Luke McAlister added three penalties as the slippery ball made handling difficult, and although Rory Clegg's boot kept Newcastle in touch they could not close enough.

The match survived an early pitch inspection and by kick-off the rain had stopped, but handling errors were evident with slippery ground and more slippery ball making it difficult with ball in hand.

Conditions could not be blamed for Sale's 13th-minute try though as Dwayne Peel fed Hodgson on the Newcastle 22 and the fly-half then carved through the floundering Falcons defence to cross the line.

Hodgson sliced the conversion wide but the try was a confidence booster given his England nightmare on the tour of New Zealand must have shaken his belief.

Kicking

McAlister took up the kicking duties after Hodgson's early miss, and the New Zealander added a penalty from in front a couple of minutes later.

Promising fly-half Clegg was playing for Newcastle in place of the still recovering Jonny Wilkinson, who is back in training after a summer shoulder operation.

Clegg got the Falcons on the board on 24 minutes when Sale strayed offside in defence enabling the 18-year-old to slot home the penalty.

A second penalty from Clegg hit the post on its way over to close the gap to two points, before Mathew Tait almost marked his Sale Premiership debut with a try at his old home as his 30-yard dash to the line was thwarted a metre short by Tom May.

McAlister restored Sale's five-point cushion with his second penalty, and he made it three ten minutes into the second half.

A drop-goal from Clegg kept Newcastle in the game and the sin-binning of Luke Abraham soon after gave them hope - but Sale hung on for a winning start to the season.