Leicester Lions secured their first win of the season with a hard-earned victory over Sale, who they have now beaten 4 of the 5 times in which they have met. The Lions were well deserved winners of a close contest where the lead changed six times between the sides.

The Lions, playing with a slight breeze at their backs, dominated the early exchanges but it was Sale who scored first. When a scrum on half way (that the Lions pack appeared to have done enough to win a penalty) was wheeled and not reset the Sale winger was able to run clear without any chance for the Lions back row to cover and scrum half Green got in support to score (0-5).

The Lions responded well though and took the lead when a big Monty Loggenberg carry was followed by a lovely long pass from Jmaes Stubbs to set Jake Sterland free on the edge and the winger found Fred St John in support to go in near the posts. Bouchier converted (7-5).

Straight from the restart the Lions were back on the attack and extended their lead when a clever Bouchier kick found Joey Patrick who, despite being under great pressure from the defender, found George Pearson in support to go under the sticks. Bouchier kicked the easy extras (14-5).

Sale hit back with a second try of their own, a close range effort from Parker after a very fortuitous penalty for obstruction was given when Stubbs bumped in to George Marsh when returning a kick receipt, allowed the away side to kick to the corner. Again the conversion was missed (14-10).

Bouchier attempted a long range penalty kick just before the interval but his effort drifted narrowly wide so the score remained 14-10 at the break.

It was Sale who regained the lead just after the interval when winger Dixon scored out wide after some neat handling. This time the conversion was scored by Davies (14-17).

The scoreboard continued to swing from one way to the other, as firstly Crane snuck over from close range on 52 minutes for the Lions after they elected to tap a 5m penalty in midfield, but then Longstaff replied with a similar effort for Sale just four minutes later. Both scores were converted by Bouchier and Davies respectively (21-24).

The Lions finally took control of the contest through two scores in 5 minutes. The Lions bench had added immediate impact and when a Theo Mannion break was backed up by a tenacious Bronson Mellowe's carry, Bouchier was able to sneak over for a try under the posts. Moments later, when a Patrick kick wasn't dealt with by Sale, prop Mellowes pounced and showed unbelievable pace to outstrip the Sale cover and go in untouched near to the posts. Bouchier converting both for an 11 point lead with 7 minutes to go (35-24).

Sale reacted almost immediately with another close range score, by Ford, to set up a nervy ending for the home support. Perfectly understandably having not won yet this season there was some panic in the Lions ranks and when a Mannion kick was charged down Sale had one last chance to steal victory. To the Lions credit though a huge multi phase defensive effort, eventually resulting in a turnover, allowed them to kick the ball out for a well deserved and much needed victory.

Head coach Gareth Collins commented: ''We have a really good record against and our style of attack always seems to give them problems so we felt confident that we could get a result today, but it's always a big ask to compete with them physically. So as delighted as I am with the tries we scored from some flowing attack I'm more pleased with the grit and determination we showed in the set piece and in the contact areas. The boys really fought for everything today so I couldn't be prouder. It's great to get the monkey off our back and get the first win as it'll give the young lads confidence that they can do it at this level. Hopefully we can take that confidence and back up this result next week at Leeds.''