Rejuvenated Sale Sharks pulled off a shock victory as they defeated one of the favourites for the title Bath by a single point and sent a strong message to any clubs who might have written them off as no-hopers.

New owner Brian Kennedy can, for today at least, feel his money has been well-spent over the summer as the new-look Sharks gave Bath as good as they got.

It also gave Wigan Warriors star Jason Robinson plenty to think about as he looked on from the stands with fellow rugby league star Apollo Perelini.

The rugby leaguers obviously enjoyed the union show at Heywood Road but not half as much as the loyal Sale fans who put up with so much misery last season.

The lead changed hands on a regular basis with Sale fly-half Niki Little and Bath scrum-half Jon Preston exchanging penalties throughout the match.

Bath appeared to have the upper hand as the first half drew to a close thanks to well-taken tries from Rob Thirlby and Matt Perry but with the last touch of the half, Sale scrum-half Bryan Redpath, former Scotland international, scored on his league debut to leave Sale trailing by a point.

The second half saw Sale attacking hard and Little could do nothing wrong with the boot as he edged his side into the lead.

Preston kept Bath in touch but it was Steve Hanley's strong run and try which saved the day for the Sharks.

Preston pulled Bath back to within a point of the home side but with the final touch of the game Bath's Mike Catt sent a desperate drop goal sailing off towards the corner flag which left Sale fans rejoicing as the whistle went.

Sale skipper Alex Sanderson - the youngest captain in the Premiership -was delighted with his side's narrow 33-32 victory over Bath.

The 21-year-old said: ``I'm obviously very pleased with the result. We've all worked very hard but we can certainly improve.

``I was very nervous before the game, almost like a child before Christmas, but Bryan Redpath and Niki Little worked well together and kept talking to me through the game.

``The turning point for us was probably when we decided to run the penalty rather than kick at goal which led to the try before the end of the first half.''

New Sale coach Glenn Ross said: ``We are a very young side and we decided our best bet was to use our enthusiasm and make things very hard for the opposition.''