Sale survive Chester fightback to bring home the Cheshire Cup

Sale started the cup final against the National Two North promotion chasers well, taking the lead in the eighth minute when Emiliano Calle Rivas slotted a straightforward penalty from 18 metres.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Chester scrum-half Tom Holloway breached the Sale defence for the first try of the game.

Sale's scrum-half, Matt Bradley, was shown a yellow card after which Chester hooker Alick Croft, ran in for another try, increasing their lead and leaving Sale trailing 12-3.

Sale’s replacement hooker, Neil Briggs, upped the ante by emerging from a rolling maul and scoring five points just two minutes after coming on.

This was followed by a stunning play from outside centre Ed O’Keeffe, who received a ball out wide and weaved down the pitch before placing a clever kick behind the winger and then winning the sprint to touch down, making it 12-15 to Sale at the break.

The second half saw Sale dominating again and they soon increased their lead as Rhys Davies broke through the defensive line before offloading for Tom Ailes to stride in, full-back Robbie Povey adding the extras.

They followed this with a kick to the corner from Povey, the lineout set up another rolling maul which gave captain David Seymour the chance to cross the line.

If Sale thought the game was won at this point, they were to get a rude awakening as Chester began to prove exactly why they were flying high in National Two North.

Harrison Vare scored a fine try which was followed by their number eight, Shay Owen, setting up a grandstand finish, his score making it a nail-biting 27-24 with just 10 minutes to play.

However, Sale were not to be denied and following an amazing break from Ryan Parkinson, who was playing at inside centre rather than his usual position in the back row, Ailes scored his second try to put the game out of reach, and bring the Cheshire Cup home to Heywood Road.