SALE Sharks' Guinness Premiership hopes were dealt a potentially lethal blow by 14-men Leicester.

Despite scoring three tries, including a brace from Mark Cueto and the advantage of playing more than 50 minutes with an extra man after Julian White was sent-off, the Tigers prevailed.

Although not mathematically impossible, with just two games left Sale are now reliant on the other four contenders slipping up if they are to reach the top four.

That they more than contributed to the most exciting game of the season will be scant consolation to skipper Juan Lobbe and his men.

With so much at stake, the game between two of rugby's fiercest rivals began at breakneck speed with the hosts laying early siege to the Sharks' 22.

And it was no surprise when Samoan powerhouse Alesana Tuilagi bulldozed his way over for the opening try after just six minutes, Toby Flood converting.

A Charlie Hodgson penalty got Sale up on the scoreboard with Flood following suit a minute later before the visitors conjured up a superb 12th-minute score to silence a 16,000 capacity Welford Road crowd.

Scrum-half Dwayne Peel supplied Hodgson from a scrum before the England fly-half put in England wing Cueto with a deft inside pass to allow him to crash in under the posts, Hodgson's conversion leveling a ferocious match-up at 10-10.

With Flood off the field for a knee injury, Sam Vesty deputised at fly-half and his 21st-minute break led to a second Leicester try, Scott Hamilton finishing off on the left wing, Vesty converting for good measure.

Passions were already running high in the forward battle and that ferocity spilled over on 24 minutes when Leicester farmhand White was sensationally sent-off by referee Wayne Barnes after a blatant punch on England colleague Andrew Sheridan.

But though the Tigers were reduced to 14 men, there was no let-up in their attacking intent and Sale's defence was at full stretch to prevent a third first-half score.

But with British Lions coach Ian McGeechan looking on from the stands, Cueto sent out another powerful selection reminder a minute from the break by finishing off another superb Sale break to reduce the half-time deficit to 17-15.

The second-half began just as the first had ended, on a knife-edge.

After Hodgson and Flood had exchanged penalties, Sale scored a superb third try of a pulsating afternoon when from Mathew Tait's scrambled pass, flanker Neil Briggs just evaded Tuilagi's attempted interception to sprint home to score, Hodgson converting.

But Leicester weren't behind for long and on 53 minutes they drew level and again it was that man Tuilagi who was the architect, storming down the left wing before slipping the ball to Dan Hipkiss to go over to make it 25-25.

And eight minutes later they showed their own title credentials by re-taking the lead in breathtaking fashion when playmaker Flood supplied the deftest of chip for Hamilton to claim his second and the Tigers' fourth try of what was becoming the game of the season, Flood converting.

To their credit, the Sharks came straight back and Hodgson's 66th-minute penalty narrowed  Leicester's lead to 32-28.

But when another period of Tigers pressure resulted in Vesty going over nine minutes from time, the game looked up for Kingsley Jones' men.

Though Hodgson's late penalty earned them a losing bonus point, they wanted and needed so much more.

Leicester: Murphy; Hamilton; Hipkiss; Vesty; Tuilagi; Flood; Ellis; Ayerza; Chuter; White; Deacon; Kay; Croft; Woods; Pienaar
Sale: MacLeod; Cueto; Tait; Keil; Ripol; Hodgson; Peel; Sheridan; Bruno; Roberts; Jones; Cockbain; White; Briggs; Lobbe
Ref: Wayne Barnes
Att: 17,498