Joe Williams' latest terrace-eye view of all things Sale Sharks.

I have to confess, at this time last week I was a little worried - the prospect of a clash against a top three side with seven of our key players missing meant I didn't sleep as easily in my bed as I would've liked.

Wasps were no doubt still smarting after the play-off loss to the Sharks in May and would be intent on revenge.

I was optimistic, of course, but that optimism was of the cautious variety.

Somebody asked me just before kick-off how I thought the game was likely to pan out.

I said to them, it's going to be close, dominated by the forwards and not particularly pretty to watch. So it proved to be.

A slugfest of power, passion and commitment, overseen by pernickety and inconsistent officials who seemed to have a different understanding and interpretation of the word advantage' to mine.

Still, we came away with a four-point win and that after all is what we wanted - it's just a pity that Foden's odds-on try scoring opportunity towards the end of the game was denied, causing unnecessary nail-biting and anxiety.

Still, not all of the supporters I spoke to were happy, and not just because we conceded the losing bonus point to Wasps in the last minute.

You might be able to fool all of the people some of the time, but, you obviously can't please them.

Their criticisms lay mainly with the performance -the set pieces, the lack of entertainment' and the inability or unwillingness to play an expansive, flowing game.

I agree that our second half lineout set pieces and restarts were poor and that it wasn't an open game but sometimes it's necessary to play pragmatically.

Yes, in a ideal world we would produce a performance like that against Calvisano every time we played. Unfortunately, you have to play the team in front of you.

With a team like Wasps you know that you are always going to face a large, powerful and aggressive pack.

We always seem to struggle against a team that employs a blitz defence even when we are able to put out a full-strength side. For some reason or other we can't take advantage of the space behind defences by either chipping over or playing through them.

So, sometimes it's necessary to fight fire with fire. It was always going to be a 10-man game with a low score line.

Perhaps we did grind out a result with a workmanlike, solid and uninspiring performance but a win's a win, especially given the other result at Bristol.

I thought our front row were excellent and that Chabal put in a towering man of the match performance, closely followed by our old friend Corcho who was as reliable as ever.

Anyway, it's time to put that game behind us and look onwards and upwards.

I'm off to Bristol on Friday, on another coach. I say that through gritted teeth as I've still not properly recovered from the last expedition.

This time though, I am prepared. I've packed the sleeping bag, rations and distress flares. In the meantime, I'm off to watch Sale Jets take on Leinster's A team at Edgeley Park in what promises to be an open, flowing and thrilling rugby game, and all for the price of a pint to boot.

Those of a more curmudgeonly, difficult to please disposition, might wish to take note.