SALE Sharks' AJ MacGinty revealed he and his team-mates were annoyed with themselves to leave Kingston Park on Friday night without a victory under their belts against Newcastle Falcons.

The Sharks lost 19-17, despite outscoring the hosts two tries to one on the night, thanks to Johnny Leota and Byron McGuigan touchdowns.

However, the side’s discipline cost them dearly as the boot of Mike Delany saw the Falcons home.

Speaking after the game, the American international fly-half said: “We’re disappointed with the performance.

"We were a bit slow out of the blocks in the first half, and we gave away far too many penalties which put us under a lot of pressure.

"The penalty count was way too high for us to make the impact we wanted.”

MacGinty came off at half time, but said it was a precautionary measure.

“In a tackle I tweaked my hamstring, and I fell over a few times.

"I was not being able to put any weight on it.

"We had a look at half time and it was decided the best thing would be to take me off.”

His replacement was fellow debutant Dan Mugford, and MacGinty praised Mugford’s impact on the game.

He said: “I though Muggy was brilliant and got us back in the game.

"He got us our second try thanks to a lovely kick through and helped us around the park.”

Mugford missed a last-minute kick to win the game for Sharks, but MacGinty said he was sure the fly-half would respond well.

He added: “He might look at that kick at the end but I missed three points in the first half so I don’t think we can point any blame.

"It’s just part of the sport and it’s frustrating, but I’ve kicked with him over the last six weeks and he’s a fantastic kicker so he’ll bounce back.”

MacGinty has now turned his attentions to Sale's home clash against Harlequins tomorrow night.

He said: “We’re targeting our home games and we want to keep a clean sheet with no defeats, so it’s a big weekend.”