Newcastle Falcons secured top seeding for the knock-out phase of the Premiership Rugby Cup following Sunday’s full-blooded northern throwdown in Salford, despite losing with the last play of the game.

There was no separating the sides at half-time with two converted tries apiece, the visitors beginning strongly by camping themselves in the Sale half and winning a string of penalties – twice kicking to the corner without return.

Kiran McDonald’s chargedown of a Sharks clearance caused momentary panic as Sale scrambled to regather the loose ball near their own line, and the Falcons were frustratingly close once more when Elliott Obatoyinbo and Jamie Blamire combined down the left only for the final offload to go to ground.

Sale were more ruthless in converting their limited early opportunities, scoring with their first incursion into the Newcastle half on nine minutes when hooker Tadgh McElroy barged over from a pick-and-go down the right.

Captain Tom Curtis slotted the conversion, but the Falcons were soon level after a slick sequence of offloads in heavy traffic down the right freed Sam Stuart for the dot-down – the scrum-half rounding off a move which included notable contributions from Alex Hearle and Nathan Greenwood, among others.

Brett Connon’s touchline conversion bisected the uprights, and his side withstood a Sale surge as the hosts kicked a penalty to the right corner only for Newcastle to heroically defend the maul.

There was no stopping the Sharks on 34 minutes, however, when replacement prop Bevan Rodd ploughed over from a close-range tap penalty – his side having been held up over the try-line but coming back to score at the second bite.

Newcastle responded straightaway to draw back level, winger Ben Stevenson racing down the left and darting his way over with a lovely in-and-out – Connon again converting for a 14-14 half-time scoreline.

A scrappy start to the second half saw the visitors enjoying the better of territory and possession, earning a barrage of red-zone penalties which eventually saw Sale No.8 JL du Preez sent to the sin bin.

The Falcons could not make it count on the scoreboard, however, although there was applause from both sets of fans when ex-Sharks back-rower Cameron Neild came on for his Newcastle debut with half an hour remaining.

The positive momentum kept coming for the men in silver, who led on 66 minutes when Connon sent over a simple penalty from 15 metres out in front.

But Sale had a sting in the tale when Ben Bamber won it with a try in the last minute.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Nathan Greenwood, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Max Clark, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart (Joe Davis, 66); 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire (Ollie Fletcher, 66), 3 Murray McCallum (Richard Palframan, 55), 4 Philip van der Walt, 5 Kiran McDonald, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 7 Ollie Leatherbarrow (Cameron Neild, 52), 8 Callum Chick (captain).

Scorers – Tries: Sam Stuart, Ben Stevenson. Conversions: Brett Connon 2. Penalties: Brett Connon.

Sale Sharks: 15 Ollie Davies (Joe Carpenter, 56), 14 Arron Reed, 13 Waisea Nayacalevu, 12 Sam Bedlow (Will Addison, 52), 11 Alex Wills, 10 Tom Curtis (captain), 9 Nye Thomas (Dom Hanson, 52); 1 Ross Harrison (Bevan Rodd, 29), 2 Tadgh McElroy (Alfie Longstaff, 56), 3 Patreece Bell (Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 29), 4 Ben Bamber, 5 Jonny Hill (Hyron Andrews, 58), 6 Jos Gilmore (Rouban Birch, 61), 7 Sam Dugdale, 8 JL du Preez.

Scorers – Tries: Tadgh McElroy, Bevan Rodd, Ben Bamber. Conversions: Tom Curtis 2.

Referee: Jack Makepeace.