BATH coach Toby Booth praised the performance of their makeshift team after they overcame Sale Sharks 27-20 with a late charge in the LV= Cup.

The West Country outfit made 13 changes to the side which defeated Worcester Warriors last weekend, but they showed impressive resilience to snatch the win at the end.

Despite leading 20-10 at one stage through Anthony Perenise and Matt Banahan tries, the visitors were pegged back when the Sharks levelled matters through Mike Haley's touchdown.

However, Dave Attwood crossed late on to garner a narrow victory and Booth was doubly pleased with his side's resilience given the number of changes that had been made.

"There was a lot of disbelief from all parties, it was an extraordinary end to a very tough contest," he said.

"There were lots of changes on both sides and often the first 20 or 30 minutes is about getting used to playing with each other.

"We're delighted with the away win because an away win in any competition you have to treasure.

"We spoke about the people who have wanted the opportunity and have waited for an opportunity to force their hand and show what they can do.

"We make no apologies for trying to create a deeper squad because you want competition for places.

"Away wins like this shows that people are putting their hands up and it gives us selection headaches."

Meanwhile, Sale's director of rugby Steve Diamond insists it was the correct decision to go for the victory.

Both teams had chances to win the game at the end but, when the Sharks were looking to run it out from their 22, Attwood stole the ball and touched down for the game-deciding score.

Diamond said: "I thought we did well to get back to 20-all and the side took the decision to have a go for it and it didn't work out, so I'm not too disappointed about that.

"We didn't play very well, that's the disappointing thing and we didn't win at home. There will be no toys out of the pram over the decision.

"They opted to have a crack at it and it didn't come off so fair play to Bath, they capitalised on it - you have to go for a win in this competition.

"We just didn't put things together as smartly as we thought we would have done. We trained well in the week but it didn't come to fruition."

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