A TOUCH of class from Emi Calle Rivas secured a bonus point 32-27 victory for Sale FC against Darlington Mowden Park in National League One at the CorpAcq stadium.

On four minutes Sale got points on the board from a Calle Rivas drop goal

Darlington responded well, their pack applying pressure to disrupt Sale at the scrum, forcing them to kick to touch and conceding line-out possession.

It was from a line-out on nine minutes that Darlington were able to bring their backs into play, quickly moving the ball wide for captain Matt Heaton to score in the corner.

Within minutes the process was repeated, on this occasion in the opposite corner, when winger Shaun McCartney got in on the act. Fly-half Warren Seals was again unsuccessful with his conversion.

From the restart Sale were awarded a penalty and from the resulting line-out, another penalty which scrum-half Matt Bradley took quickly drawing a third in front of the posts which Calle Rivas slotted home.

Another consequence of the penalty was a yellow card for Darlington fly-half Seals.

Sale kept up the momentum and were quickly on the front foot with a long kick by full-back Robbie Povey deep into the Darlington half.

Despite trying to run the ball clear, Darlington were well marshalled by Sale, forcing a penalty close to halfway.

Calle Rivas found touch close to the try line and from a well-executed line-out, Ryan Parkinson drove over to score. Calle Rivas narrowly missed adding the extra points.

Within minutes Darlington restored their lead with a penalty scored by centre Garry Low.

Then, on 30 minutes, a penalty to Sale was clinically despatched into the Darlington 22 by Calle Rivas, and from the resulting line-out a controlled drive by the Sale pack concluded with a try for second- row forward Matt Postlethwaite, which Calle Rivas converted.

Sale continued to keep Darlington pinned deep in their own half with a succession of long kicks culminating with excellent work from flanker Dave Seymour who grappled the ball away from the opposition and released Paulo Odogwu to sprint the 45 metres to the posts. The try was converted by Calle Rivas extending the Sale lead to 25-13.

The highlight of the match came on 70 minutes – a solid line-out and rolling maul laid a platform enabling an accurate pass to find Calle Rivas in space.

The fly-half feigned a drop-goal attempt but instead placed a deft chip behind the Darlington defence perfectly placed for centre Johnny Leota to run on to, beat full-back Chris McTurk and score under the posts.

Another conversion by Calle Rivas extended Sale's lead to 32-13.

In the closing minutes Darlington regrouped and took the game back to Sale and were rewarded with two tries to give them a losing bonus point.