Sale Sharks 31-16 Newcastle Falcons: MacGinty shines as Sharks go second

AJ MacGinty inspired Sale Sharks to a 31-16 victory over their northern rivals at the AJ Bell to go second in the Gallagher Premiership.

Sharks ended their Friday night voodoo against Newcastle Falcons after an impressive showing from their fly half proved to be the difference between the two top four hopefuls.

An error filled Falcons performance limited Dean Richards’ side to attacking opportunities, and at the end of the night they were left rueing mistakes as they headed home empty handed.

Sharks started brightly and took the lead within two minutes when Marland Yarde burst clear down the left to score try number five of the campaign.

The winger evaded multiple tackle attempts before touching down in the corner. MacGinty made no mistakes in adding the extras with an excellent touchline conversion.

The fly half then produced a moment of magic to set up Lood de Jager for his first Sharks try after 15 minutes.

The USA international’s outstanding offload fell into the hands of the South African lock who wasn’t to be stopped from crashing over from metres out.

The visitors found themselves the product of their own downfall when inside the Sharks 22, as sloppy line-out’s and knock-on’s prevented any scoring opportunities.

Brett Connon’s penalty did put Falcons on the scoreboard, however an off the ball tackle on Sam James allowed MacGinty to restore Sharks’ 12 point advantage four minutes later.

With the last kick off the half, MacGinty gave Sharks an 18-6 lead at the break, cancelling out Connon’s second penalty.

The hosts’ slow start to the second-40 resulted in their lead being halved when the Falcons fly half scored his third penalty of the match after 52 minutes.

Minutes later Sharks were then reduced to 14 when WillGriff John was shown yellow. Upon a TMO review, referee, Andrew Jackson sent to the tighthead prop to the bin for a shoulder charge in the ruck.

Two penalties for the hosts extended their lead to 15 points with eight minutes remaining, however the Falcons hit back with a try of their own through substitute Joel Matavesi.

Scrum half, Micky Young worked space well from the breakdown before playing a pass to the debutant centre who crossed for a converted try with five minutes left on the clock.

Any hopes of Newcastle rescuing a point was wiped when former Falcon, Simon Hammersley dived over to seal victory.

The fullback exchanged a one-two with Yarde down the left before touching down his second try of the season, with replacement kicker, Rob du Preez adding the extras.

Victory for Sharks moves them up to second in the table, whilst Falcons’ hopes of breaking into the top four are once again dented as they find themselves 7th.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt