THIS EDF Energy Cup clash looked like being one for the Guinness Premiership over the Magners League until a near full-strength Cardiff Blues saved their blushes with a try from replacement wing Richard Mustoe six minutes from time against a reserve Sale side in which 11 players made their first start of the season, many of them fresh out of the club’s academy.

Mustoe was not in the match 22 until yesterday morning when Darren Allinson, Cardiff’s reserve scrum-half, was pulled off the bench after getting flu overnight, so his arrival at pace to ram over for the winning try, taking the scoring pass from Jamie Roberts after Gary Powell and Nicky Robinson had done the spadework, was timely in every respect.

Although Ben Blair, who had a mixed day with his goalkicking, failed to add the extras, it was enough for Cardiff to squeeze home against the run of play and Blues coach Dai Young was scathing about his side’s lack of focus and poor skills. “Who knows what’s in the players’ minds really, but it was a clear message not to underestimate Sale – they have a lot of hungry players, maybe not their front-runners, but we did not have the same urgency as against Munster and Leinster,” said Young. “We’ve got to be professional – it’s got be about us and our performance, not about who you are playing.”

Young’s drift was that this should have been men against boys. However, there were still some pretty big, powerful boys in the Sale lineup, particularly in the pack where they called on international heavyweights of the calibre of Jason White, Brent Cockbain and Chris Jones. Aided and abetted by impressive young No 8 Carl Fearns, Sale made life difficult for Cardiff Blues at every turn, especially at fly-half, where they fielded a wildcard in Richard Wigglesworth, last season’s England No 9.

Wigglesworth is a tidy operator in the other half-back position because he is not only a sound tactical kicker but is also quick on his feet and a threat on the break. His willingness to move the ball wide meant that Sale forced Cardiff onto the back foot for large parts of the match.

The upshot was that, having taken an 11-10 half-time lead, they won the early second-half penalty exchange, with Nick Macleod kicking two in reply to one from Ceri Sweeney to lead 17-13 until, as Young put it, Cardiff got out of jail. Sale’s woes were compounded when, in the last act of the game, Oriol Ripol broke his right arm.

Sale were first on the scoreboard thanks to a Macleod penalty in the first minute and when Blair missed with a straightforward kick at the posts only minutes later, the Blues got an early warning that they would have to rely on crossing the whitewash rather than the boot. They showed that they were capable of doing so when, with 10 minutes played, Richie Rees sliced through the Sale defence. The sweetest of reverse passes from the scrum-half gave young wing Leigh Halfpenny a clear run for the line and Blair converted to give the Welsh side a 7-3 lead.

From the restart, Cardiff looked as if they meant business, as their own seasoned contingent of Martyn Williams, Andy Powell and Taufa’ao Filise drove the ball up the middle. However, Sale won a crucial turnover on their own 10m line and Chris Leck fired a long pass out to the left wing, giving Ripol space in which to run at the Cardiff defence. There are few more elusive customers than the pint-sized Sale wing, and he jinked inside Halfpenny before linking with Wigglesworth, taking the return pass to put Rudi Keil over for a great try.

Macleod was unable to add the extras and Sale’s 8-7 lead was short-lived with Blair kicking a penalty just before the half-hour to put Cardiff back on top at 10-8. Sale, however, were in no mood to roll over and, after Chris Jones had made a storming run up the middle, they were rewarded, taking an 11-10 lead after Macleod’s long-range penalty went over.

Sale held on to their advantage until the interval despite losing hooker Marc Jones to the sin-bin for a spear tackle on Cardiff No 8 Mark Lewis. By the end it was Sale who felt hard done by.

Star man:Richard Wigglesworth (Sale)

SALE:N Macleod; S Kuadey (N Royle 53min), R Keil, A Tuilagi (J Kennedy 68min), O Ripol; R Wigglesworth, C Leck; L Faure, M Jones, M Halsall (R Davies 73min), C Jones (A Shaw 76min), B Cockbain, J White (capt, J Gaskell 68min), C Fearns, D Tait (R Davies 36min, D Tait 46min).

CARDIFF BLUES:B Blair; L Halfpenny (R Mustoe 50min), J Robinson (T Shanklin 71min), J Roberts, G Thomas; C Sweeney (N Robinson 65min), R Rees; J Yapp, R Thomas (G Williams 76min), T Filise (G Powell 54min), B Davies (D Jones 53min), P Tito (capt), A Powell (R Sowden-Taylor 65min), M Lewis, M Williams.

Scorers: Sale:Try: Keil 16. Pens: Macleod (4) Cardiff Blues:Tries: Halfpenny 12, Mustoe 74. Con: Blair. Pens: Blair, Sweeney Yellow cards: Sale:M Jones (35min)

Referee:T Hayes (WRU) Attendance:7,458