On arrival at Edgeley park on Saturday afternoon, the Sale Sharks supporters were looking forward to sitting back and watching their team secure a comfortable win over Gloucester, and a guaranteed place in next year's Heineken Cup. We were upset to hear that Chabal was off sick, but still felt quietly confident that today would mark the return to form of the Sharks. It was disappointing therefore, when 3 minutes in Sale conceded a penalty to Gloucester, putting them 0-3 up. Not too much of a cause for concern though. Sale then launched a convincing attack on Gloucester, and with Gloucester prop Powell sent off to the sin bin, it looked promising that a Sale try might follow. Several attempts just didn't quite make it over the line, with White's successful lunge over ending with the ball held up. We then were awarded a penalty. The sun came out (briefly) and the wind dropped, and Charlie kicked it over to equalise the scores. The Sale crowd's spirits were up a little (particularly the female supporters who had amongst all this been treated to seeing Lund change his shorts right in front of the Robinson stand!).
As the game approached 30 minutes in however, Gloucester's Lamb kicked over another penalty followed by two more just minutes apart. The score was 3-12 to Gloucester, the rain was lashing down, and it was half time.
Five minutes into the second half and another 3 points for Gloucester left the Sale fans fearing another defeat, but 2 minutes later, a Sale penalty raised hopes. We were on our way back into the game, and a further 6 Sale points in the minutes that followed cemented this feeling. We were just 3 points away from Gloucester and catching up quickly. The second half substitutions for Sale, Turner, Bruno and Fernandez-Lobbe had given us strength and we were looking like scoring a try, but still it didn't happen. Halfway into the second half, Tindall received a yellow card, whilst the players were treated to another hailstorm and Sale got the chance to equalise. It was windy though, and Hodgson missed it. Oh no! The opportunity came again, another penalty, but Hodgson was down. Wigglesworth successfully stepped in and 13 minutes from the end of the game, the scores had been levelled, and somebody other than Hodgson or Lamb had some points to their name! What we needed now was something special, to get us ahead, and skipper Robinson, playing his 500th match provided it. A brilliant drop goal. We were in the lead at 18-13. The crowd were thrilled - but then with just 1 minute to go, Gloucester were awarded a penalty. Gloucester's Lamb had been substituted at 100 minutes, and Mercier who had taken his place stood, as the clock ticked down to 0 preparing to kick. He completely fluffed it. The crowd cheered. It was over and victory was ours. 'Mercier for Man of the Match!' a friend suggested ... and I couldn't help but agree.