Bath Rugby arrived at Edgeley Park last Friday much vaunted. They were out to avenge their recent Heineken Cup defeat at the hands of Biarritz. Sale, said the media, were a team in freefall, with just two victories in six matches.

Bath clearly decided to play for glory, and every time they were awarded a penalty in Sharks territory they went for the try rather than the easy points. Time and again the Sharks defence, or Bath mistakes, kept them from the tryline. Meanwhile, at the other end of the pitch Charlie Hodgson was doing the opposite, and as the first half neared a close he had notched up 9 unanswered points for the home side. Bath Fly-half Chris Malone obviously had no intention of letting that sort of a margin taint the atmosphere in the Bath dressing room, and he followed up his own neat kick to score a try, and converted it with the last play of the half. 9-7.

Two minutes into the second half, and again Hodgson's boot calmed things down for the Sale faithful, making the scoreline 12-7, but play was still a little scrappy. At the back of the mind of every Sale fan was the thought that a victory would keep the Sharks at the top of the Premiership table, but a bonus point win would see that position unassailable. We needed tries.

Yet again it was Charlie Hodgson who provided the spoils, mirroring Malone's first half attempt by scoring between the posts and then converting. 19-7. Three more tries were required, but unfortunately it was Bath who scored the next one - 19-12.

Bath must have felt they could win the match, with less than five minutes left, and only a try separating the two teams. But this Sale Sharks team is capable of greatness when the crowd gets behind them. Chris Mayor, only just substituted onto the pitch, pulled out a superlative run, breaking all the tackles Bath could muster, and scored the try that secured victory for the Sharks. The miracle had just begun however and both Mark Cueto and Chris Jones also ran in superb long range running tries - classic Sale.

Dumfounded Bath left the pitch, leaving the Sharks thrilled to be secure at the top of the table, with more than a match in hand and one game left in the full season. The Sharks now have a home semi-final in the play offs, but there cannot be a rugby fan out there who would deny that having led the Premiership for almost every week of the season, and finishing at the top of it, Sale Sharks deserve to be called champions. All that remains is to bring home some silverware from Twickenham next month.