Sharks stay in the hunt

Sale held on for a 27-26 victory over Cardiff Blues to keep their hopes alive in a brutal-looking Pool 5 of the Heineken Cup.

After their mauling in Toulouse last week, the Sharks faced a must-win game to stay in the hunt to top a section that also includes Harlequins.

They made eight changes to the side which lost in the south of France, and with the likes of England stars Andrew Sheridan, Charlie Hodgson and Mark Cueto returning, they had just enough to edge past last season's semi-finalists.

Cardiff started the brighter and dominated the opening exchanges, their reward a couple of successful penalties from Ben Blair for a 6-0 lead.

But once the opening period reached its halfway point Sale were beginning to win the battles in the tight as they established a foothold in the game.

Charlie Hodgson cut the lead on 24 minutes with Cardiff hanging on in the ruck, but Leigh Halfpenny re-established the visitors' six-point lead with a penalty from inside his own half after earlier missing two long-range efforts.

Control

But that was the cue for Sale to seize control of the game, largely through some powerful surges up the centre of the Cardiff defence, with centre Andy Tuilagi and No.8 Sisa Koyamaibole to the fore.

One such surge forced a scrum five metres from the Cardiff line and it was Koyamaibole who went over from close range, the video referee awarding the score.

A minute later Cardiff were hit by a harsh-looking yellow card, Andy Powell sent off for a marginally late hit on Dwayne Peel.

Sale took full advantage. On 36 minutes James Gaskell peeled off the back of a scrum and raced through a gap where Powell surely would have been. He almost made it to the line, but managed the next best thing, quickly re-cycling the ball for skipper Dean Schofield to score.

Hodgson knocked over the conversion and Sale led 17-9 at the break.

Two minutes into the second half Sale scored from a very similar scrum move, this time teenager Gaskell bursting through and scoring unopposed.

Fortitude

Trailing 24-9 after Hodgson's conversion, Cardiff showed great fortitude to get back into the match almost immediately.

They put a penalty into the corner and with almost training-ground ease, drove Powell over at the back of a rolling maul.

Blair cut the deficit to five points with a conversion and penalty but a Hodgson drop-goal with 11 minutes left again took Cardiff out of bonus point range.

Sale - and probably England - were hit by a major blow in the closing stages as prop Sheridan left the field with what looked to be a painful dislocated shoulder.

It was left to Cardiff to have the final say. Halfpenny was brilliantly tackled into touch by Gaskell in the corner, but replacement hooker Neil Briggs' throw was too long and Robin Sowden-Taylor pounced on the loose ball to score.

That earned the Blues a bonus point, which could prove crucial in a pool which looks set to remain fiercely competitive right to round six.