Jon Meadows reports

It must have been on the mind of the referee to postpone this fixture, had he done so all involved may have had a more enjoyable afternoon. With large areas of standing water on the pitch this was never likely to be a free flowing contest, and so it proved.

Kicking off down the slope Sale had the better of the opening period, retaining possession and territorial advantage, but without really threatening. It would be Moseley who opened the scoring. They had a lineout on their visitors 10 metre line to set up a drive. It stalled, Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley attempting a chip and chase which was grounded in goal by Sale giving them a goal line drop out. The kick to halfway was gathered by Tuoyo Egodo who interchanged with Santiago Edwards to break through before feeding Louis Mifsud to power over the line. Maxwell Whitley made no mistake in adding the extras.

The lead was extended shortly after, Jack Jolly with a penalty from the 22 before Joseph Green opened the visitors account with a similar opportunity.

The deficit was reduced a few minutes later. Awarded a free kick at a Moseley scrum in the home midfield a tap and go saw them to the 22. A break down the left got to the 5 metre channel. Several phases later and working with free ball the ball was passed to the right, Mark Dixon taking advantage of an overlap, the conversion unsuccessful.

The visitors would finish the half on the front foot with an extended stay in and around the home corner by the clubhouse. Despite numerous 5 metre lineouts they were unable to break through and the half ended with a narrow 2 point deficit to their hosts.

In a portent of what was to come, the second half started with a bit of a kick fest. Moseley just about shaded this period and extended the lead through another Jolly penalty.

Sale started to work their way up field through a number of penalties to touch. A 5 metre catch and drive was initially stalled until the backs joined in. It worked its way infield before Nathan Langdon broke from the back to score, Green converting.

With thirty minutes left to play the match effectively became a slug fest between the forwards. Perhaps understandably, with the state of the pitch which had not improved given the constant heavy drizzle, when the ball came to the backs they preferred to kick it away rather than run with it. Sale had the better of things but were unable to make any meaningful headway into home territory with Moseley defending well at the breakdown. The referee relieved the pain when he blew for full time.