Sale heap misery on Falcons

Tom Brady: Early try

Newcastle were left rooted to the foot of the Aviva Premiership table after slumping to a 27-19 defeat to Sale at Edgeley Park.

Nick Macleod kicked 17 points for the hosts, who climbed back into the top four, while Tom Brady and Mark Cueto crossed the try-line in a relatively comfortable victory.

The Falcons never managed to recover from a poor start and failed to pick up a losing bonus point despite a Jeremy Manning try and 14 points from the boot of Jimmy Gopperth.

Newcastle had most of the early play but it was Sale who drew first blood through Brady, who took advantage of confusion in a Newcastle midfield that had lost Corne Uys early on.

And after receiving a static pass from Dwayne Peel, the young winger broke the gain line before darting 60 metres to touch down for a brilliant solo score.

Macleod added the extras before kicking a superb long-range penalty to open up a 10-point lead after just eight minutes.

Newcastle continued to have most of the territory but it was Sale who capitalised on the visitors' poor discipline to increase their lead.

Penalty

From a scrum penalty Macleod slotted his second three-pointer and then added another from the tee before Newcastle eventually got on the board.

Suka Hufanga's scything break into the hosts' 22 was unceremoniously ended by a high tackle and fly-half Gopperth was on target with the resulting kick, although his opposite number responded with his fourth penalty.

The Falcons continued to press and were rewarded with a try when Manning barrelled through three tacklers to score in the corner.

Gopperth scuffed the conversion but it still snuck between the uprights as Newcastle went into the half-time break 19-10 behind.

The second period continued in the same vein as the first with Sale attempting to play from deep, and it nearly paid off when James Gaskell off-loaded to prop Alasdair Dickinson, but the move broke down in the opposing 22.

Meanwhile, the Falcons reduced the deficit still further when Gopperth kicked his second penalty on 49 minutes, with another following shortly afterwards as the Sharks looked in danger of letting their lead slip.

But Sale stole the ball from a Newcastle scrum and fed it out to Cueto, who skilfully finished off the move.

Gopperth reduced the arrears with a penalty, but Macleod added another to seal the win and leave Newcastle six points behind second-from-bottom Worcester having played a game more.