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Rugby Union

Victory at Bristol pushes Sale to third

11/04/2008

Sale fought their way to a 24-17 victory at Bristol to climb up to third place in the Premiership.

The victory came after spectators at the Memorial Stadium endured only the fourth scoreless first half since the Premiership was established in 1997.

Going into the game, Bristol head coach Richard Hill admitted that his side were looking forward to the start of the new season, and this lack of enthusiasm was evident as the Sharks came out of the interval on the offensive.

Jason White, Ben Foden and Chris Jones all crossed over for the visitors, with Charlies Hodgson managing to further his side's advantage by converting all three scores.

A Hodgson dop-kick further accentuated the defeat, though the home side managed to salvage a bonus league point through tries from Neil Brew and David Lemi.

The victory give Sale an additional boost as they drive to clinch one of the four play-off spots to secure a place in next season's Heineken Cup.

However, despite the impressive result, seven sides are still in with a chance of grabbing a top-four spot and even catching league leaders Gloucester.