Hoylakeâ€™s preparation for the tough away fixture to Sale was far from ideal due to the late withdrawal of skipper Andy Fielding due to illness and a mix up at the laundry leaving the visitors with just 12 shirts prior to kick off.

Unsurprisingly, Sale started the brighter and were soon ahead after their dangerous backs took advantage of an overlap to score out wide. Hoylake managed to stem the tide though and soon worked their way up field, with Stephen Young kicking a simple penalty. With Sale in the ascendancy and Hoylake hanging on, a nasty injury to a Sale second row meant that the game had to be held up whilst an ambulance was called.

Both teams returned to the changing rooms with 10 minutes of the first half remaining. The delay lasted over half an hour as the player couldnâ€™t be moved from the field of play. Eventually, the game restarted and the floodlights were switched on ensuring that the contest could be finished in the failing light.

The delay had obviously given Hoylake the opportunity to analyse their opponents weaknesses as they began to use their big forwards, Collister, Oâ€™Neill and Griffiths, to occupy the Sale defence. Not long before half time, scrum half Dominic Kearney dummied from the base of a ruck to create just enough space for him to score a typical try from 15 metres.

At 8-5, Hoylake were in confident mood going into the second half. They were soon pegged back by a penalty from Sale, before Hoylakeâ€™s flyhalf, Stephen Young, dropped a goal from close range to put the visitors back in the lead.

A slight lapse in concentration though, saw Saleâ€™s number 8 break through a couple of tackles before offloading to the replacement scrum half who scored under the posts. With the conversion to follow, Hoylake had just 15 minutes to overturn a 15-11 deficit.

When it appeared that Stephen Young had spurned an opportunity when he opted to chip ahead rather than use an overlap, it seemed that the chance to score had gone. However, the Sale defender inexplicably missed the ball and it bounced into the grateful arms of Young, who rounded the fullback to score under the posts. He converted his own try to give Hoylake an 18-15 lead with 5 minutes remaining.

Sale threw everything at Hoylake for the last remaining minutes and had it not been for an outstanding last gasp tackle by fullback Mike Kearney, they would surely have scored in the left hand corner.

As it was, the visitors came away with two well-earned points having beaten Sale for the first time in 3 seasons. Man of the Match went to Dom Kearney who had an outstanding match, keeping the Sale defence on their toes. He was closely followed by back rowers Tom Corkhill and Matt Oâ€™Hanlon who had excellent games on the wide Heywood Road pitch.

Hoylake now move into 6th place in the league, just two points behind the fourth and fifth placed teams. Next week, Hoylake entertain Widnes at Melrose Avenue in the fourth round of The EDF Senior Vase.