Supporter opinion was and still may be divided over whether Steve Bates was correct to rest a large number of players ahead of Friday’s European semi-final at Worcester, but we were stuck with it, and so the travelling Geordies high in the Printerland Stand resolved to give the boys as much vocal backing as possible.

Some even talked of victory.  Possibly tongue in cheek.

Whatever, we got of to the worst possible start when Sale were given a lineout in our half which looked like it should have gone the other way, and Chris Bell scored on the left with no defender covering the outside of a ruck.  5-0 down in less than two minutes.

Ollie Phillips, a strong performer all day, saved a second score with a last-gasp tackle on man of the match Ben Foden, but it came soon enough through wing Selorm Kuadey, a late entrant into the starting XV for Mark Cueto, after Sale turned over a scrum and again we lacked cover on the wing.

With the Sharks dominant up to the midway point in the first half, they looked good to score on the right but with Lee Thomas outnumbered he came back for a penalty, which was kicked into the corner.  Bell took the spread ball on the right for the third try, Charlie Hodgson kicking his first conversion of the afternoon.

Then a remarkable thing happened.  The young Falcons put together a seven-right minute spell in the Sale 22, Phillips and the outstanding Rob Miller having chances to score.  Miller would’ve done well to pass to his winger, but of course that doesn’t happen much these days.

With two penalties awarded, we generally kept play in the forwards, but eventually this allowed Sale to steal and clear.  From a lineout Sale came into the 22 and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe powered over the line with two tacklers, sealing his side’s bonus point after 35 minutes, though later than many had expected.

Not giving up though, the Falcons persevered and Phillips forced Foden over his own tryline to win a scrum.  Tom Dillon missed an overlap on the left but as the forwards took over, Sean Tomes broke over for his first Falcons try, Miller converting.

The score sent us into half time 24-7 down, but despite the rally I at least held little hope that the necessary three scores to nil would be achieved to get us back into the match.

Tim Swinson came on for captain Russell Winter at the break, and the lock promptly dropped the kick-off.  A fast break by Steve Jones took us up to the 22, but Tim Visser who took a pass was tackled without threatening the line, but we were soon on the scoreboard again with the outgoing Lee Dickson, showing up well, turning Sale over at a maul and bringing us forward to win a penalty in front of the posts, which Miller kicked.

It was to be Dicko’s last meaningful contribution, as he was immediately replaced with Micky Young.  Whilst the new Micky showed heart, aggression and speed from his first touch on, I have three questions:

a) why take Dicko off straight after he’s made a great contribution to us scoring?

b) why take Dicko off in general as he was having a good game? and

c) why not start with Young, as this was a reserve team and Dicko is leaving next month?

I despair.

Back to the game, Dillon and Adam Dehaty linked up well in midfield but the latter gave a forward pass, and on the counter Hodgson scored a penalty to increase Sale’s lead, before the former England fly-half was replaced to a great ovation with Will Cliff.

A further try was never far away, and with Young forced to kick behind following a turnover, JMF Lobbe scored from the side of the scrum after a number of resets, the packs wheeling around to Sale’s blindside.  Lee Thomas converted, and any tiny hopes of us getting something out of the game were gone.

The sixth try followed minutes later with the Sharks fielding a Jones kick, Foden almost scored but was tapped before Cliff raced over from the scoring pass, taking the score over 40.  It wasn’t good.

Phillips, with another try-saving tackle, and Jones with a run from the tryline to win a penalty failed to give up, however the darling of Stockport Foden finally got his try on 71 minutes on the right.

Chants of “We want Ben”, were misinterpreted by some away fans as “We want ten [tries]”.  Of course, we already had ten (points), and we also have a Ben, although he wasn’t on the field.

With three minutes to go, the scoring was completed by replacement Michael Hills, set up by home captain Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe from close range after good work by Kuadey to come upfield, and though Thomas missed the conversion it mattered little.

Attempting to score a second consolation (it wouldn’t have been any) in the dying seconds, Miller made a run down the right, but the long pass to Phillips fell short and the winger knocked-on on the ground, condemning us to defeat by a large margin of 43 points.

I’m not sure how to consider this performance.  Yes, it was a hammering but our young side acquitted themselves well over.  In terms of organisation, we did miss Wilkinson, May and Tait in defence and had no killer touch in attack.

It was one of our more enterprising Premiership showings of 2008, Miller kicking well to touch and Jones showing he could do a job for us at 15 as well as 12, but why would this matter in the context of Worcester?

We know it will most likely be the team that lost our previous six league matches which will play at Sixways, and though the spirit on show yesterday will not be enough to beat the Warriors on its own, without it we will not be going to the final.  And bar the second half against Castres, in March and April our first team have been dire.

I’m tempted to suggest we put this game down to experience for people like Dehaty, Miller, Young, Vickers, Tomes, Williamson and Swinson, rather than getting what praise is deserved out of hand because whichever way you look at it, and whatever XV are playing, a 53-10 defeat is simply unacceptable, and the record books will show the result and the result alone.

We have now equalled our worst-ever run of seven straight defeats in the Premiership, and few would beat against that run extending to ten by mid-May.  I suspect even fewer would want Steve Bates to be our manager in September, even if we do win the Challenge Cup, which I for one sincerely hope we do.  Certainly, I have yet to meet the 3% of fans who in a very unscientific survey say they want Bates to stay in the job.

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