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JONES SALUTES RESILIENT RED BULLS
Head coach Stephen Jones hailed his Newcastle Red Bulls heroes as they battled back from 25 points down to snatch a remarkable home victory over Sale Sharks.
Alex Hearle’s hat-trick try with the very last play of a nailbiting northern derby sealed a sensational 45-42 triumph, with Jones refusing to take the credit away from his team.
“In fairness to the players, it was all down to them,” said the Wales and Lions legend, when asked what he had said at half-time.
“We had an honest de-brief like we always do, and defensively we had given Sale far too much time on the ball.
“We addressed that in the second half, and credit to the group because we stayed in the fight and bought ourselves a shot with the last play.
“Our ball movement was much higher, we carried with purpose and we looked good on the back of it.
“That’s not to ignore what was a poor first half defensively, but we kept ourselves in it and pulled out a winner.”
Full of praise for a side who have battled all season despite results being hard to come by, Jones added: “The mentality and bravery of the boys to ask the question from 95 metres out – I absolutely loved that, and I’m so pleased for them that they got the reward from it.
“This group deserves it – by which I mean the players, the management, all the staff and most importantly, our supporters.
“It’s no secret that it’s been a difficult season, and it was especially important for the guys who are leaving us that we give them an incredible send-off to remember their time here.
“We spoke during the week and before kick-off about all the hard work we had put in, and it was very important we maxed out on our effort.
“We know there’s much more to come for this club, but to do it in the manner we did this evening was special.”
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