Newcastle Falcons were second-best on Friday night as Sale Sharks took the spoils in the first game of the Gallagher Premiership’s Derby Weekend.

The visitors trailed 28-3 at half-time in Salford and were a try down inside four minutes when a penalty in the left corner set in motion a sequence of phases which ended with Arron Reed scoring from a cross-field kick.

Rob du Preez, whose kick had set up the score, sent over the touchline conversion from the left, but the Falcons kept their heads up and enjoyed some time in the home half with ball in hand.

Ethan Grayson got them on the scoreboard 14 minutes in with a 25-metre penalty after Sale had came in from the side of a defensive ruck, and some scrambling defence kept them in touch with their hosts when Sharks were held up over the try-line.

Sharks did manage to add a second try on 21 minutes when a loose ball down the right was scooped up by Joe Carpenter – the full-back feeding to Reed for his second converted try down the left.

A collapsed maul in the same corner saw the home side extending their lead to 21-3 when referee Karl Dickson awarded a penalty try, sin-binning Falcons captain Callum Chick for his part in the incident.

The four-try bonus point arrived on 36 minutes when a five-metre scrum in the left corner saw centre Will Addison scoring from a hard midfield running line, Rob du Preez slotting the simple conversion.

That extended Sale’s half-time lead to 25 points, Newcastle beginning the second half brightly as Grayson fed Ben Stevenson down the left from turnover ball.

But the scoring was once again from the Sharks, Tom Roebuck diving in at the right corner four minutes after the resumption following a sequence of offloads.

Du Preez stroked over the touchline conversion, but the Falcons found some momentum through Chick’s try on 49 minutes – the skipper poaching a try from a pick-and-go between the posts after Cameron Hutchison’s barnstorming run had set up a close-range ruck.

Grayson added the extras, but with Luke Cowan-Dickie in the sin bn Sale chose to eat a minute off the clock by kicking a penalty for goal, Rob du Preez sending over a three-pointer from 30 metres out in front.

Replacement scrum-half Joe Davis added some late zip for a Newcastle side who were struggling to make serious attacking inroads, Sale further pain at the death when Roebuck plucked a steepling cross-field kick out of the air to score his second in the right corner.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo (Louis Brown, 9), 14 Adam Radwan (Jack Metcalf, 59), 13 Oli Spencer, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Ethan Grayson, 9 Sam Stuart (Joe Davis, 59); 1 Adam Brocklebank (Luan de Bruin, 55), 2 Jamie Blamire (Ollie Fletcher, 64), 3 Richard Palframan (Murray McCallum, 55), 4 Pedro Rubiolo (Adam Scott,73), 5 John Hawkins, 6 Philip van der Walt (Freddie Lockwood, 65), 7 Tom Gordon, 8 Callum Chick (captain).

Scorers – Tries: Callum Chick. Conversions: Ethan Grayson. Penalties: Ethan Grayson.

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Will Addison (Nye Thomas, 65), 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Arron Reed (Tom Curtis, 32), 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Gus Warr; 1 Si McIntyre (Tumy Onasanya, 59), 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Ethan Caine, 60), 3 James Harper (Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 59), 4 Ben Bamber (Sam Dugdale, 68), 5 Hyron Andrews (Josh Beaumont, 60), 6 Ernst van Rhyn, 7 Ben Curry (captain), 8 Tom Curry (Dan du Preez, 59).

Scorers – Tries: Arron Reed 2, Penalty try, Will Addison, Tom Roebuck 2. Conversions: Rob du Preez 4. Penalties: Rob du Preez.

Referee: Karl Dickson.