SALE FC kept up the pressure at the top of National Two North with an emphatic 52-5 home win against Scunthorpe on Saturday.

The Heywood Road men opened the scoring within three minutes when Gareth Rawlings was able to touch down in the corner.

Then some neat passing and quick hands by the Sale backs allowed man-of-the-match Matthew Simpson to run free to score under the posts. Captain Liam McGovern was on target with the extras and Sale were 12 points to the good within seven minutes.

In the 19th minute, after 12 Sale phases, Jack Moorhouse finished off in the corner. McGovern was once again on target with the conversion.

A period of pressure applied by Scunthorpe resulted in William Robinson darting over from the back of a ruck in the 34th minute.

However, in the 39th minute, a break by Sale saw McGovern go over under the posts and add the extras, leaving Sale 26-5 up at half time.

After the restart, Jamie Bache scored in the 41st minute and three minutes later Sale were once again over the try line with Scott Briggs evading two tackles to score under the posts. McGovern grabbed both sets of extra points to put Sale in a seemingly unassailable position.

Sale prop Joe Kelly was yellow carded less than a minute after coming on, but Scunthorpe were unable to make the extra man count and Sale once again scored in the 63rd minute after going over from short range after a five-metre scrum.

The last of the action came in the 70th minute when James Conville scored his third try in his sixth game for Sale to mark a great start to his career at the club.

McGovern was on target with the extras once again to end the scoring.

Sale director of rugby, Jonathan Keep, said: "It was anther great home performance from the boys.

"We talked about the importance of controlling games and keeping concentration levels high.

"They executed both of these and it is a very pleasing five points.

"I thought all the lads were excellent but Matt Simpson was the standout player, always looking to make things happen and showing what an important player he is for us."

Sale remain in second place in the league, two points behind Caldy and three ahead of Leicester Lions.