NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 18 SALE SHARKS 18 Guinness Premiership Round 19 Franklin’s Gardens Saturday, March 17, 2007 Like their last home match Saints came out of the blocks well and with a Mark Robinson chargedown had good possession in the Sale 22 immediately. Though the pack built up a promising head of steam they ultimately ground to a halt and had to be content with a third-minute Stephen Myler penalty. But Sale re-gathered quickly and soon had good possession in Saints’ 22 thanks first to a penalty then a Northampton midfield knock-on. This gave Sale a scrum from which Sebastien Chabal broke, drew two defenders then off-loaded to Ben Foden to create a simple overlap. Oriol Ripol scored in the corner and Sale were ahead 5-3. It took nine minutes for Saints to get on the score sheet themselves. And on the day when the voting for Try of the Season opened it is shame that this effort could not be on the list of contenders. Robinson and Bruce Reihana’s clever use of the right blind-side took Saints from deep in their own territory well into the Sale half. Carlos Spencer sent Ben Cohen away down the left wing and after the pack had re-cycled several phases Spencer crossed in the left corner. Myler converted for a 10-5 scoreline. Daniel Larrachea pulled three points back immediately and his replacement should have given Sale the lead immediately after that. And for a time it looked like Saints were on the ropes. But they replied in style five minutes before the break after Vaughan Going had been dragged down half a metre short of the line. The forwards had a few goes for the line but were held out. So Cohen showed them how it was done in the right corner. Myler just missed and with Sale’s refusal to take a simple three points, and failure to score an equalizing try on the stroke of half-time, the score at the break was Saints 15, Sale 8. Sale continued this try quest at the start of the second half with a penalty kicked to the corner. This followed a Chris Bell run that bisected the Saints defence and once more the visiting forwards set up one phase after another. Once more the home defence was up to the challenge, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe knocked on and Robinson cleared. Saints had their own chances in the third quarter thanks to a sloppy pass to Thomas and a pair of chargedowns. But they couldn’t make the most of the opportunity, nor a five-metre scrum just past the hour awarded after Dylan Hartley had been held up. Instead the only points came from Thomas’s boot in the 53rd minute and the score going into the last 15 minutes was 15-11. Then in the 68th minute Sale suffered a hammer blow when Andrew Sheridan was sinbinned for killing the ball. This was the culmination of a succession of penalties conceded by Sale on their line as the Saints pack sought the kill. Indeed they came close repeatedly but couldn’t score the crucial five-pointer that would have sealed the contest. Myler landed a penalty following Sheridan’s indiscretion that extended the lead to a respectable seven points. With 10 minutes to go this looked enough, particularly with the man advantage. But Sale again collected themselves and in virtually his last act of the afternoon Chabal chipped the defence, collected and passed to the unmarked Bell, who scored between the sticks. Thomas added the simple conversion and the scores were tied. Neither team could control the ball enough to earn a match-winning penalty shot and the scores remained tied until the final whistle. But for Saints it was not so much two points won as two points lost. Teams:
Northampton Saints – Going (Mallon 75mins); Reihana (capt), Spencer, Kydd, Cohen; Myler, Robinson (Howard 74mins); Smith, Hartley, Brooks (Tonga’uhia 58mins), Browne (Lord 16-29mins, 53-58mins, 65-69mins), Short, Tupai, Lewitt (Fox 69mins), Labit. Sale Sharks – Laharrague; Mayor (Wigglesworth 64mins), Seveali’i, Bell, Ripol; Larrachea (Thomas 24mins), Foden; Sheridan (Roberts 78mins), Titterrell (Briggs 72mins), Evans (Stewart 54mins), Jones, Schofield (I Fernandez Lobbe 64mins), JM Fernandez Lobbe, Hills (Roberts 77-78mins), Chabal (capt)(Cox 75mins). Scorers:
Northampton Saints – Tries: Spencer, Cohen; Con: Myler; Pen: Myler. Sale Sharks – Try: Ripol, Bell; Con: Thomas; Pens: Larrachea, Thomas. Yellow card:
Sheridan (68mins) Travis Perkins man of the match:
Christian Labit Attendance:
13,265 TIMELINE:
3mins SAINTS Pen Myler 3-0
11mins SALE Try Ripol 3-5
20mins SAINTS Try Spencer Con Myler 10-5
23mins SALE Pen Larrachea 10-8
35mins SAINTS Try Cohen 15-8
HALF-TIME SAINTS 15 SALE 8
53mins SALE Pen Thomas 15-11
68mins SALE Yellow card Sheridan (killing ball)
69mins SAINTS Pen Myler 18-11
73mins SALE Try Bell Con Thomas 18-18
FULL-TIME SAINTS 18 SALE 18 | 
