Sale survived a dramatic last ditch London Irish charge to seal a hard fought away victory and finally bring a smile to the face of beleaguered coach John Mitchell.

Since his arrival at Sunbury, Irish coach Dick Best has crafted a side in his own tough, uncompromising image but this time his team failed on both counts.

The addition of star new signings Stephen Bachop and Kevin Putt seemed to galvanise the Exiles early on giving hope to those who braved the bitter cold conditions.

Sale barely had time to warm up before centre Nick Burrows crashed through a series of half-hearted tackles for his first try.

Despite their early dominance Irish made plenty of the fundamental mistakes that have plagued their stop-start season to date - a handling error followed by a series of missed tackles gifted Sale forward Dion O'Cuinneagain a comeback score.

But Irish soon restored their early advantage as a period of prolonged forward pressure allowed Burrows to make his second expedition over the try line.

Lock Nick Harvey followed with the hosts' third moments later after captain Conor O'Shea had carved open the Sale midfield.

Both sides struggled to stamp their authority on proceedings after the break and the watching Springbok tourists will certainly have found nothing to concern them ahead of their four Tests.

The deadlock was eventually broken by a Sale penalty try while England winger Tom Beim gathered Jos Baxendell's delicate kick to put the visitors firmly in control.

Irish showed plenty of courage with their powerful forwards manoeuvring Niall Woods into position from which he converted two long range penalties.

But the taste of a third season victory proved too overpowering for Sale and the unerring boot of Shane Howarth sealed valuable points with two sweetly struck late penalties.

"We believe in the ability of our side and it showed today. We've been trying to play like that all season, but things have not been going to plan," said coach Mitchell.

"In the last few weeks, we've taken a long, hard look at ourselves. You need to be tougher mentally and physically at this level and this game was vital for the rest of our season. I'd go as far as to say it was almost like a cup final."

London Irish: O'Shea, Bishop, Burrows, Venter, Woods, Bachup, Putt, Worsley, Kirke, Fullman, Harvey, O'Kelly, Boer, Dawson, Feaunati. Replacements: Richards, Todd, Cunningham, Howe, Hatley, Strudwick, Bird.

Sale: Mallinder, Moor, Howarth, Davidson, Beim, Baxendell, Ellis, Winstanley, Diamond, Bell, Raiwalui, Baldwin, O'Cunneaghain, Sanderson, Machacek. Replacements: Smith, Mather, Rees, Angelsea, Murphy, Williamson, Greening.