Sale comeback floors Quins

Tries from Mark Cueto and Kyle Tonetti enabled Sale to mount a late comeback and beat Harlequins 21-17 in their Aviva Premiership match at Edgeley Park on Friday.

The visitors were 17-6 ahead at half time after George Lowe and Jordan Turner-Hall had touched down, but the momentum decisively shifted the Sharks' way in the second period.

Cueto went over in the 68th minute and after Quins had lost Tomas Vallejos to the sinbin, Tonetti ran on to Nick Macleod's kick to seal victory in the closing stages.

The visitors showed plenty of spark before Sale's late pressure proved too much - Mike Brewer's side in contrast refusing to buckle earlier on in the 80 minutes.

Both sides were missing their first-choice scrum-halves - Dwayne Peel and Danny Care withdrawing at the last minute owing to illness and an ankle injury respectively.

Dangerous

Harlequins looked more dangerous with the ball in hand early on and they took a deserved lead in the fifth minute when Lowe grounded in the left corner, with Nick Evans converting.

Macleod then missed a penalty that would have put Sale's first points on the board - his attempt albeit from long range.

With both sides running the ball, Sale came close in the 17th minute when Sosa Koyamaibole's offload put Cueto clear on the left flank. However, some last-ditch defending from Quins denied him.

Macleod then kicked two penalties in quick succession - the second from 60 metres - to give the home crowd hope that the Sharks were finally in the ascendant.

Yet, with full-back Mike Brown breaking from full-back, it was Quins who grew as an attacking force and a penalty from Evans put them 10-6 ahead in the 28th minute.

Then, two minutes before half time, they claimed their second try when Brown evaded a number of Sale defenders and broke clear from inside his own half.

He was eventually brought to the ground but Turner-Hall hacked the loose ball forward before crossing for a try converted by Evans.

Brewer responded to the deficit by ringing the changes at the interval, with Andrew Sheridan, Neil Briggs and Will Cliff replacing Jack Forster, Marc Jones and Chris Leck.

Foothold

Sale strove to establish a foothold but their opponents defended stoutly before losing centre Ollie Smith to the sinbin in the 50th minute for persistent infringement.

Evans could have pulled one back in the 52nd minute but having broken clear, he was instead floored by Ben Cohen's fine tackle.

As the match wore on, however, it was Sale who appeared the team most likely to win. Their pressure proved too much for Vallejos to handle, with Cueto then touching down after slick handling from Cliff, Macleod and Cohen.

Macleod's conversion attempt bounced off a post, but he soon produced the grubber kick that Tonetti pounced on to leave the visitors on the floor.

After converting, Macleod then added a late penalty to give Sale their second successive home win under Brewer and leave Quins still searching for their first victory of the season.