Both teams returned to Guinness Premiership action at Edgeley Park with all to play for.  Leeds were looking to secure a much needed win to bring them level on points, whilst a full strength Sale side were aiming for the win that would put them in fourth place. 
It was Sale though who looked nervy in the opening exchanges with Leeds making a promising start.  Sale made some early errors and Leeds were able to take advantage by making good ground up the field before they played the ball out wide to Tom Biggs, who looked like he had found space to go over for the opening try.  Some tough defence however from Sale prevented the visitors from scoring.  Moments later Alberto Di Bernardo had a chance to put Leeds ahead with a penalty but he put his effort wide.
Sale then came to life and Leeds found themselves on the receiving end of some fierce attack which eventually led to Sale being awarded a penalty when Leeds were ruled offside at the scrum.  Charlie Hodgson put the homeside ahead with the simple penalty on Leeds' 22 metre line on 12 minutes.  From here Sale looked in control and began to dominate possession and soon Hodgson extended Sale's lead with a second penalty, taken from almost the exact same point as the first.
The homeside looked like they would punish Leeds further minutes later, but some last minute defending from Leeds Carnegie and some poor handling from Sale ensured that the Sharks were denied.  Sale divided the Leeds defence well by playing the ball with pace out wide to Chris Mayor, who spotted a gap in the Leeds defence and with Sebastian Chabal making a good supporting run on the wing he passed the ball to number eight, but the French man fumbled and was unable to catch the ball, leaving the opportunity for what looked like a certain try begging. 
After escaping this near miss, Leeds were dealt a cruel blow when their captain Joe Bedford was injured and stretchered off after 10 minutes of examination on the playing field.  Brooks replaced the scrum half and when play resumed Hodgson added to Leeds' woes with his third penalty.
Sale then looked like they were about t turn the screw with another impressive play, which on this occasion ended in bizarre circumstances   Hodgson threw a great flick pass to Lee Thomas, who then offloaded to Luke McAlister who found Brent Cockain near the posts, but the second row was unable to make the most of the chance and putting his head down as he surged forward he ran straight into the posts.
As the side drew to an end McAlister scored the Sharks first try.  Showing great pace down the right hand side the winger had just Tom Biggs and Leigh Hinton to beat and as he approached the Leeds tryline he put an extra spurt on to leave Hinton standing and although Biggs managed to grab him there was no stopping McAlister getting the try.
Hodgson continued his successful game with the boot by adding the conversion to bring the half time score to 16-0,
Di Bernardo helped Leeds make a good start to the second half with a penalty but the visitors were unable to build on this and Hodgson soon cancelled out the Argentinean's effort with another penalty.
Sale showed their dominance throughout the second half and were dominant in the scrum whilst continually posing a threat in attack, but some valiant defence from Leeds ensured that Sale were unable to open up a significant lead, although Leeds never looked convincing themselves in attack.
Sale brought on former Leeds player Chris Bell and with 15 minutes to go he made good run and pass to Wigglesworth, but a high tackle from Adam Balding stopped the move and resulted in the number eight being sent to the sin bin.  With three minutes to go Sale took advantage of their extra man and Bell punished his old club when he ran over in the corner for the Sharks' second try.  In the closing minutes Sale still kept up the pressure as they searched for another try, but once again a strong defensive effort form Leeds prevented Sale from scoring leaving the final score 29-3.

Sale Sharks: 15. Mark Cueto, 14. Chris Mayor, 13. Luke McAlister, 12. Lee Thomas, 11. Oriol Ripol, 10. Charlie Hodgson, 9. Richard Wigglesworth, 1. Lionel Faure, 2. Sebastien Bruno, 3. Stuart Turner, 4. Dean Schofield, 5. Brent Cockbain, 6. Sean Cox, 7. Magnus Lund, Sebastien Chabal. Replacemenets: 16. Neil Briggs, 17. Martin Halsall, 18. Nathan Bonner Evans, 19. JM Fernandez Lobbe, 20. Will Cliff, 21. Julien Laharrague, 22. Chris Bell

Leeds Carnegie: 15. Leigh Hinton, 14. John Holtby, 13. Jonny Hepworth, 12. Lee Blackett, 11. Tom Biggs, 10. Alberto Di Bernardo, 9. Joe Bedford, 1. Mike MacDonald, 2. Vili Ma'asi, 3. Tom McGee, 4. Eric Lund, 5. Pablo Bouza, 6. Jon Dunbar, 7. Calum Clark, 8. Rhys Oakley.  Replacements. 16. Michael Cusack, 17. James Parkes, 18. Kearnan Myall, 19. Adam Balding, 20. James Brooks, 21. Andy Tuilagi, 22. Rob Vickerman

Attendance: 8006
Referee: Dean Richards