Sale Sharks 41 Cardiff Blues 3

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It was always going to be a tough ask for a young Blues side who were going up against a full strength Sale outfit, desperate to gather momentum for the domestic campaign.

The Blues displayed plenty of grit and determination but injuries and indiscipline proved decisive as the hosts claimed six tries.

Losing BJ Edwards, James Sheekey and Pele Cowley in the second quarter proved costly as Sale powered into a 19-3 lead at the break.

And in the second-half yellow cards to Seb Davies and Morgan Sienawski saw the Blues put under immense pressure but the young side fought all the way.

Richard Hodges’ had the first opportunity to score at the AJ Bell Stadium with Jarrod Evans pointing to the posts after an early penalty.

He struck the ball well from inside his own half but was agonisingly short of the posts. The hosts took the lead on 10 minutes as they made yards through the phases and eventually found an overlap on the right to allow Denny Solomona to cross.

AJ McGinty added the extras to bring the scores to 7-3 but the young Blues outfit responded with aplomb.

Evans dinked two penalties to the corner and they hammered away at Sale’s defence with Pele Cowley maintaining the tempo.

James Sheekey, Garyn Smith and Evans all went close but on the second occasion centre Smith lost the ball.

Sale Sharks then worked their way up field and dominated territory and possession for the next 10 minutes.

They initially failed to turn pressure into points but Cardiff were unable to exit and following a third sustained period of phase play, Jonathan Mills powered over.

McGinty once again converted but the Blues battled back. Evans combined with Dolan and the USA international surged forward but play broke down and the visitors had to settle for an Evans penalty.

Hodges side were showing plenty of spirit but they were dealt a double blow in the closing stages of the half. They had already lost James Sheekey to a HIA and within the space of a minute both BJ Edwards and Pele Cowley departed with bangs to the head.

The Sharks showed no mercy and quickly took advantage to claim their third try. They kicked the corner and despite seeing their driving lineout held at bay by some good initial defence, Laurence Pearce powered over two minutes later.

McGinty failed to convert the effort as his side went into the interval with a 19-3 lead. It took them 10 minutes of the second-half to claim their fourth try with Pearce powering over from the back of a five metre scrum.

The Blues were hit by two quick-fire yellow cards on 55 minutes. First Seb Davies was given his marching orders for an unfortunate tip tackle and from the ensuing penalty, Morgan Sienawski followed suit for a deliberate knock on.

Sale instantly took advantage of the indiscretions and their numerical supremacy as Neil Briggs crashed over.

James Flynn added a sixth try and in the closing stages James Mitchell broke out an earned a penalty-try after he was tackled without the ball.

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