Northampton 18 (15)
Tries: Spencer, Cohen
Con: Myler
Pens: Myler 2
Sale 18 (8)
Tries: Ripol, Bell
Con: Thomas
Pens: Larrechea, Thomas
Northampton stay bottom of the Premiership after Chris Bell's late try earned Sale a draw.
Despite Sale scoring the opening try through Oriol Ripol, the home side were 15-8 up at half-time after tries from Carlos Spencer and Ben Cohen.
Things looked desperate for Sale when prop Andrew Sheridan was sin-binned with the visitors trailing 18-11.
But Sebastian Chabal then kicked over the Saints defence, collected the ball and put Bell through to salvage a draw.
It also meant that last year's champions Sale avoided a sixth successive league defeat and eased their relegation fears.
But Northampton are deep in trouble now after their third defeat in a row.
Northampton head coach Paul Grayson
"This is going to hurt, but we've just got to forget it
and focus on the games coming up. "I can't get stuck into the players because their effort levels were
fantastic, but we should have put the game to bed.
"Two points are better than one and we can't give up. It's a good lesson for
the players - the tries we scored in the first-half were not by bashing away and
if you have a game plan stick to it."
Sale head coach Philippe Saint-Andre
"I'm relieved. It's not
finished, but I think we need just one more win now to be safe. "It was a fantastic commitment from the players because we didn't have enough
ball.
"We had six guys out on international duty, but I was delighted Chabal was
not picked - we're short of leaders - and it showed in the last 15 minutes when
he started to go forward."
Northampton: Going; Reihana (capt), Spencer, Kydd, Cohen; Myler, Robinson; Smith, Hartley, Brooks, Damien Browne, Short, Tupai, Lewitt, Labit.
Replacements: Cortese, Tonga'uhia, Lord, Fox, Hopley, Howard, Mallon.
Sale: Laharrague; Mayor, Seveali'i, Bell, Ripol; Larrechea, Foden; Sheridan, Titterrell, Evans, Jones, Schofield, JM Fernandez Lobbe, Hills, Chabal.
Replacements (from): Briggs, Roberts, Stewart, Cox/Tait, Thomas, Wigglesworth, Vilk/Hanley.
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