Charlie Hodgson bagged 21 points in Sale's win over Gloucester © Getty Images

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Matches: Sale Sharks 36 - 31 Gloucester Rugby

Tournaments/Tours: Aviva Premiership

Teams: England | Gloucester Rugby | Sale Sharks

Charlie Hodgson was hailed as "world class" after reaching a notable milestone in orchestrating Sale`s 36-31 bonus-point victory over Gloucester.

The fly-half passed the 1,000 mark at Edgeley Park with a 21-point haul as Steve Diamond's men condemned the high-flying Cherry and Whites to only their third defeat of 2011.

Hodgson will be sorely missed next season following his move to Saracens and his latest outstanding contribution merely underlined that point as he took the armband in the absence of regular skipper Mark Cueto.

"Hodgson's a world-class player isn't he?" Sale's executive director of sport, Steve Diamond, said. "He wanted to be captain, which was great, and it was a fantastic performance from him. He's bright, he sees things that other players don't and he will be sadly missed."

Hodgson, 30, made the decision to quit Sale and join Saracens before Diamond returned to the club to take up his current role earlier in the campaign.

"Charlie is a top lad and I've no hard feelings with him going," Diamond said."I wish he'd stay but he made the decision to go before I arrived and I wish him all the best. We will find a replacement for him and we will have a highly competitive squad next year, even without Charlie Hodgson."

Diamond believes the result has effectively ended his side's relegation fears, leaving the fight for survival a two-way battle between northern foes Leeds and Newcastle, who meet on Saturday. He added: "We've got two more home games still to come and I think we'll be fine now."

Gloucester fashioned a late rally, which harvested a score for Jonny May and a late penalty try to secure a losing bonus point, but Bryan Redpath could not hide his frustration at the result.

"Am I frustrated? Massively," he said."I thought we did some good things but I didn't think we were as smart and streetwise as we should have been away from home. I didn't think the referee helped us but on the whole we didn't defend particularly well and didn't manage the game well enough to win it."