SALE Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson conceded a draw was the right result after seeing his side end 24-24 at Bath last Saturday.

But for a last-gasp penalty miss by Faf De Klerk, they could have snatched the win in the West Country.

But Sanderson felt that would have been harsh on the hosts who are struggling at the bottom end of the Premiership.

He said: “Was a draw the fair result? It probably was, given how we performed in the first half.

“They looked dangerous in attack, put their bodies on the line.

“We looked a bit leaky and uncharacteristically soft.

“There was a general malaise and we lacked urgency in the first half.

“We addressed that at half time and therein lies the difference.

“I’m really proud of that second half.

“It’s good to get three points but there’s two gone begging.”

Sanderson was attaching no blame to De Klerk for missing the late penalty that would have wrested back victory after Danny Cipriani’s kick had drawn Bath level with three minutes to go.

He said: “You can go back to the kick, can’t you, but it was all about the thousands of incidents that happened before that. It shouldn’t really come down to the kick.

“Fair game to Bath. They’ve got a bit of form back in the last seven or eight weeks.

“With Ed Griffiths coming in (as chairman), some of their injured players coming back and some of their better players, they look sharp and dangerous.

“Put a bit of weight into their front five and you’ve got a real team there.”

Bath remain bottom of the table on points difference below Newcastle despite the draw, which followed two victories in the Premiership.

A frustrated Hatley said: “We were good value for the 21-7 lead at half-time. We were really aggressive. Credit to Sale, they are a good side - a big side. It’s a hell of a pack and they squeezed us in that middle third of the game for 20-22 minutes when they got back into the game.”