©PA
Newcastle Falcons 15-13 Sale Sharks, Kingston Park
Scorecard
Toby Flood scored the decisive try in the added minutes as Newcastle Falcons edged out Sale Sharks 15-13 in the second round of the Gallagher Premiership at Kingston Park.
The Falcons now with two wins from as many games are at the top of the table while Sale Sharks are at second with six points.
Brett Connon started the proceedings with a sixth minute penalty goal for the Falcons and soon George McGuigan came close to scoring a try but could not go over the line because of a knock-on.
Sale Sharks were penalised for a series of infringements with Daniel du Preez yellow carded and immediately and Sean Robinson dotted down followed by Connon’s conversion as the opening half ended with a 10-0 lead for the home side.
Aj MacGinty with two penalties in the second half reduced the deficit for Sale Sharks to four points and they went ton claim the lead in the 71st minute in Cobus Wiese’s try followed by MacGinty’s conversion. The Falcons had a chance to level the scores but they decided to kick the penalty into the corner and their attack was held nicely by the visitors.
Just as Sale looked to seal the victory, Flood scored in the corner in the added minutes to ensure the Falcons edged out with a thrilling two-point win.
Team line-up:
Newcastle Falcons: Penny; Radwan, Burrell, Flood, Stevenson; Connon, Young (capt); Davison, McGuigan, Mulipola, Peterson, Fuser, Robinson, Collett, Graham.
Reserves: Blamire, Brocklebank, Tampin, Barry, Basham, Stuart, Hodgson, Lucock.
Sale Sharks: James; Solomona, James, Janse van Rensburg, Hammersley; MacGinty, De Klerk; Morozov, van der Merwe, Oosthuizen, Wiese, Phillips, J-L du Preez, Curry (capt), D du Preez.
Reserves:: Langdon, Rodd, Cooper-Woolley, Postlethwaite, Dugdale, Cliff, R du Preez, Yarde.
