Sharks rip up Falcons

Sale kept their Guinness Premiership play-off hopes alive with a bonus-point win over struggling Newcastle.

Chris Bell and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe both grabbed a brace of tries for the Sharks, who look set to take the play-off race right to the season's final day.

Centre Bell opened the scoring in the second minute and added a second in the 17th minute to sandwich a try from rookie wing Selorm Kuadey.

Lobbe added a fourth shortly before half-time to secure a bonus point and claimed his second after the break before further scores from Will Cliff, Ben Foden and Michael Hills took Sale's try tally to eight.

Leapfrog

The result allowed Sale to leapfrog Leicester in the Premiership table and move up to fifth.

Philippe Saint-Andre's men need to win their remaining two games against Harlequins and London Irish to secure a play-off spot, but they cannot expect as easy a ride as this.

Newcastle - missing England quartet Jonny Wilkinson, Mathew Tait, Jamie Noon and Toby Flood through injury - struggled badly as they slid to their seventh successive Premiership defeat.

The tone was set in the second minute when Charlie Hodgson's delightful offload was collected by Bell and the centre burst through the Newcastle backline to race clear from 30 metres.

Hodgson failed to convert but a pattern quickly emerged whereby Sale were in total control.

Foden, 22, embarked on a mazy run from inside his own half which again brutally exposed Newcastle's glaring deficiencies as he outstripped a clutch of visiting players before seeing his progress by a vital last-ditch cover tackle.

Sale quickly recycled the ball to allow Ukraine-born winger Kuadey who plunged over the line from close range.

It was all one-way traffic and Hodgson's short offload allowed Bell to waltz over the line virtually unopposed in the 17th minute.

Purple patch

Midway through the opening period Newcastle enjoyed a brief purple patch during which they threatened to breach the Sale on several occasions.

They did register a try on the stroke of half-time when Sean Tomes barged his way over for a score which Rob Miller, but by then Lobbe had claimed his first try.

A penalty from Miller gave Newcastle slim hope in the 51st minute but Sale hit back with a penalty from Hodgson and then claimed four more tries.

Lobbe grabbed his second, substitute Cliff took a pass from Foden to claim Sale's sixth score and Foden galloped through for a seventh.

Substitute Hills then broke clear for the final try as Newcastle's humiliation was complete.

Both these sides are in European Challenge Cup action next week and they will go into their respective ties with very differing emotions after this one-sided game.