SALE visited Sedgley Park for the first time in their long history but came away with only a losing bonus point after a hard fought 17-13 defeat against the team second in the league.

The game started well for Sale when from a scrum on the Park 10metre line a poor pass by the hosts allowed Sam Stelmaszek to kick ahead and win the race to the line for the opening try on four minutes.

Both sides were struggling with the conditions and although Park put pressure on the visitors inside their 22 the Sale defence remained firm and it wasn’t until the 26th minute that Sale extended their lead.

A clearance from Park failed to find touch and Jack Moorhouse raced back into the home 22 before good recycling by Sale produced a long pass from Rhys Davies to Chris Mayor for Sale’s second try. Unfortunately, the normally reliable Liam McGovern missed both conversions but Sale now had a 10-0 advantage.

Sedgley Park came back strongly and with Sale penalised the hosts drove former Sale player Danny Waddy over for a try, converted by Stephen Collins to leave Sale with a three point lead at half time.

Park levelled the score on 50 minutes through a Collins penalty but thereafter for much of the half the game was dictated by the elements rather than the players.

With 10 minutes remaining Park extended their lead with a second try by Waddy following pressure in the Sale 22 and a conversion from Collins.

The visitors added a late penalty by McGovern but they could not seal a victory.