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| 14 February 2002, 11:06 am |
| Northampton Saints U21S Take League Victory Over Sale |
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SALE U21S 31
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS U21S 32
Wednesday, February 13, 2002
League
This was a compelling game with some excellent passages of play, considering it had been about a month since the U21s last played together as a team. Sale were in a noisy and confident mood, after winning this fixture at Northampton earlier in the season, but they had not accounted for the fact that the Saints U21s had become a much more organised and mentally hard team.
For all Sale's noise, it was Saints who took charge of the early exchanges, which resulted in two early penalties that Simon Hoult duly converted. The U21s gained in confidence and put their pattern onto the game but unfortunately Sale were given some momentum when a stray pass went into the midfield. Sale were quick to capitalise and from a five-metre lineout, they drove over for the score.
Sale then had their best passage of play and with some strong defence forced Saints to make mistakes in their own 22. Errors did occur and Sale took advantage of two such turnovers for their strong running wingers to score tries. The Saints U21s did not panic, as they might have in the past, because they had been creating opportunities, but in the wrong areas of the field. Reward for their effort came right on half-time when a drive from a lineout saw prop Robbie Morris get up with the ball, making the score 19-13 to Sale at half-time.
The game was then effectively won in the first 20 minutes of the second half when Saints started to play in the right area of the field, retained possession for long periods and then exploited the holes that started to appear. Tries came from Andy Dalglish, after another driving maul from a lineout, Johnny Howard, after an extravagant dummy, and Lee Anker, after good approach work from the backs.
The Saints forwards worked hard all night with Morris at the helm and Bobby Graham showing some good touches in his first game for the U21s. The backs, as a unit, all looked dangerous, particularly when they found holes in the second half, and should have added to the try count if they had been a little more patient after making some telling breaks.
Sale for their part came back in the latter stages to make the score look closer than it should have been but the Saints side should be pleased with their night's work away at Sale under the watchful eye of Saints coach Wayne Smith.
Northampton Saints U21s
Hoult; Richards, Hyndman, Staten (Goode 65mins), Anker; Dann, Howard; Morris, Dalgleish, Sturgess, McDermid (Rosam 65mins), Brenton, Winstanely, Graham, Jeffries (Craig 65mins).
Scorers - Tries: Morris, Dalgleish, Howard, Anker; Cons; Hoult (3); Pens: Hoult (2).
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