A STORMING second half Bath rally fell agonisingly short when young fly-half Orlando Bailey missed a fiendishly difficult long-range penalty in the final minute.
Considering the visitors were 17-0 down just before half-time it represented a notable comeback.
Bath demonstrated plenty of ticker in difficult circumstances with scrum-half Ben Spencer departing injured midway through the first half and debutant Danny Cipriani having to leave on 50 minutes after absorbing a huge tackle.
Those experienced half backs are important for Bath going forward so coach Stuart Hooper will be anxiously awaiting fitness reports in the coming days.
Sale made much the stronger start but Robert Du Preez missed an early chance to cash in with a wayward penalty before Bath finally gained a foothold.It came to nothing and soon Bath were on the attack again via Raffi Quirke which resulted in a short range lineout but outstanding defensive work from Miles Reid forced a knock on and Bath cleared their lines
It was tight, tense stuff and play was further disrupted with Spencer having to hobble off and then Ben Curry being forced off for the home team which saw young Sam Dugdale come off the bench. The breakthrough finally came on 21 minute after a very fit looking Manu Tuilagi went piling into contact and Bath went offside and Du Preez did the needful and slotted the penalty.
England U20 scrum-half Quirke was the individual who looked most likely to break the stalemate with his pace and quick penalty taps and gradually Sale began to make their territorial dominance tell.
Du Preez pushed a penalty into the corner and the forwards, with help from their backs, rumbled the ball over for Marland Yarde to poach the score with Du Preez adding the extras.
It was that man Quirke again who struck just before half-time with another quick break down the right and timely offload to Byron McGuigan to claim their second try, Du Prez adding the two points to make it a healthy 17-0.
It came at a cost though with Quirke departing with a knee injury.
Bath finally got on the scoreboard on half time with a Cipriani penalty when Simon Hammersley was yellow carded for preventing release.
After the break Cipriani again struck with a more difficult penalty and another Reid tackle denied Rob du Preez a try as Bath hung tough.
It was soon after that that a massive legal hit from Van Resnburg on Cipriani saw the latter troop off soon after to be replaced by Bailey.
Bath, with the wind in their sails, maintained momentum and replacement Juan Schoeman forced his way over by the base of the posts to get them right back in the game
Sale had gone right off the boil, typified by a penalty miss in front of the posts by Du Preez, and Bailey reduced it to a one point game with another simple penalty and the drama cranked up moments later when Robert Du Preez broke powerfully but dropped the ball over the line.
Bailey was again on target for Bath to take the lead for the first time with four minutes left but Sale finally composed themselves and moved up field for Keiran Wilkinson to kick what proved to be the winning penalty.
Sale ………………..20pts
Tries: Yarde 31, McGuigan 35
Conversions: Du Preez 31, 37
Penalties: Du Preez 21, Wilkinson 78
SALE SHARKS: Hammersley 6 (Van Rensburg 45, 7); McGuigan 7, James 7, Tuilagi 7.5, Yarde 7; R du Preez 6, Quirke 8 (Cliff, 38, 7) ; Rodd 7 (Harrison 52, 7), van der Merwe 7 (Taylor 52, 6.5), Schonert 7.5 (Ford 70 , 6), Wiese 7 ,D du Preez 7 (Wilkinson 72, 6.5), Neild 6, Curry 6 (Dugdale 27, 6.5) Ross (C) 7
Bath ………………..19pts
Tries: Schoeman 53
Conversions: Bailey 54
Penalties: Cipriani 39, 44; Bailey 68, 76
BATH RUGBY: De Glanville 6.5; Rokoduguni 7, Joseph 7, Ojomoh 6.5, Muir 6.5; Cipriani 7 (Bailey 50, 7), Spencer 7 (Fox, 21, 7.5) ; Obano 7 (Schoeman 50, 7.5), Dunn 6.5 (Du Toit 66, 6), Jonker 6 (Rae 60), 6.5, Williams 7 (Ellis 48, 6.5), Ewels(c) 7.5, Reid 8 (Coetzee 58), 7, Underhill 8, Bayliss 7
REFEREE: Christophe Ridley
ATTENDANCE: 7,500
Star man: Miles Reid – Bath
