In their four previous late summer outings, Sale had only fired in fits and starts and back on home soil and fielding a powerful side to boot, that was the same frustrating story again last night.
Having stormed into a 17-3 half-time lead, the platform should have been laid for the Sharks to run amok on the West Country visitors, who had endured a seven hour crawl up the M6 to get here.
Instead, they allowed their Guinness Championsip rivals to gain the upper hand in a hugely deflating second 40 minutes and in the end were grateful to simply hang on and claim the victory.
It's not what director of rugby Kingsley Jones would have wanted just seven days ahead of the start of the league season and the visit of reigning Guinness Premiership champions Leicester Tigers.
"It was very disappointing to finish the way we did, especially after starting so brightly," he admitted.
"There were some good points to take from the game and also lots of things to work on and we will anaylse the video very carefully on Monday and take it from there."
Yet despite a Stockport deluge, it had all started so promisingly for Sale. A trio of Jones' summer recruits - World Cup winner Ben Cohen; Samoan hooker Mahonri Schwalger and number eight powerhouse Sisa Koyamaibole were all making their home debuts.
And the Fijian one-man panzer division quickly got Sale up and running as he offered a glimspe of his wrecking ball qualities, latching onto a deft seventh minute pass from James Gaskell to bulldoze through the Chiefs pack to score.
Centre Chris Bell and Cohen then linked up before the ball was shipped out to new skipper Dean Schofield who followed Koyamaibole's example to power over from close range.
And when England Under-20 international Gaskell - of whom great things are expected at Edgeley Park - took on and beat three Exeter forwards to register their third try of the night, a cricket score looked on the cards.
Instead, the Chiefs whose sole first half score came via Danny Gray's penalty, were allowed a toehold back into the game when winger Mark Foster evaded three Sale tackles before scoring under the posts, Gareth Steenson converting.
And when Stenson's 55th minute kick narrowed the deficit to just four points the whole mindset of the game shifted in favour of the Chiefs with Sale struggling at the set-piece and being guilty of poor discipline.
At least Sale weathered the Exeter storm to record the win but they know they will need to be much, much better if they are to tame the Tigers next Friday.
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