Northampton Saints host the third leg next Friday, with the finals to follow at Bath on August 6.

Sale Sharks 33 Leeds Carnegie 7

Sale Sharks dominated the opening match in the Welford Road sunshine, running in five tries against Leeds Carnegie.

Josh Fowles scored twice early on, first handing-off defender Tom Barrett to score in the left corner, then bursting through the middle to double the advantage, with Will Cliff adding the conversions.

Leeds got off the mark with a well-executed score from Curtis Wilson, latching on to a beautifully-timed offload from Alex Black on the left touchline.

Sharks immediately hit back with a score from David Tait, and Cliff added his third conversion to make the half-time score 21-7 in Sale's favour.

And Sharks continued to amass points straight from the restart with Henry Thomas pushing his way over for try No4 and, with little over two minutes remaining, Ed Stobart found his way over the line to put the outcome beyond doubt. Cliff added the extras as Sale celebrated a winning start.

Sale Scorers: Try - Fowles 2, Tait, Thomas, Stobart. Conversion - Cliff 4

Leeds scorers: Try - Wilson. Conversion - Wilson

Newcastle Falcons 19 Leicester Tigers 7

Newcastle Falcons won their opening tussle with hosts Leicester Tigers, recording a three-tries-to-one triumph.

England Sevens international Charlie Amesbury gave Falcons the lead with a breakaway score from halfway, picking up loose ball and racing clear. Jack Smales landed the conversion.

After Tigers half-back George Ford broken from his own half, a scrum provided the opportunity for the England under-18 captain to dart trough to the tryline and he levelled the scores with the conversion.

Amesbury dived into the right-hand corner with the last action of the half, giving Falcons a 12-7 lead.

Smales protected that lead with a try-saving tackle on Matt Everard after some smart work in midfield by Tigers backs Stephen Macauley, Rory Lynn and Ford. Macauley also went close in the opposite corner before being shut out.

Falcons nudged further ahead when Steve Parsons won a race into the corner and Smales added an excellent touchline conversion to make it 19-7 and wrap up an opening win for the visitors.

Newcastle scorers: Try - Amesbury 2, Parsons. Conversion - Smales 2

Tigers scorers: Try - Ford. Conversion - Ford

Newcastle Falcons 19 Sale Sharks 12

Falcons made it two wins out of two, though they were made to work hard all the way.

Tyson Lewis ran on to a pass from Fred Burdon to open the scoring, showing great determination and power as Josh Fowles tried to hang on to his waistband as he stretched out to the tryline.

Jack Smales then denied Fowles with a saving tackle on the left, but Sharks did not have long to wait long to open their tally, Ed Stobart jinking through to score. Will Cliff's conversion levelled the scores.

Parity lasted only moments when smart offloading in midfield gave Burdon a run to the line for Newcastle. The conversion from Smales restored their seven-point lead.

Steve Parsons got the scoreboard ticking again for Falcons in the second half, supplying the finishing touch to stretch the advantage to 19-7.

Sharks scored a superb try in reply, with almost the entire team involved before Tom Taylor ran on to the scoring pass from Ben Davey on the right wing. But they were unable to chip any further into the Falcons' advantage.

Newcastle scorers: Try - Lewis, Burdon, Parsons. Conversion - Smales 2

Sale scorers: try -Stobart, Taylor. Conversion - Cliff

Leeds Carnegie 33 Leicester Tigers 26

Leeds and Leicester duelled out a fantastic fourth game of the evening before a try from Rob Almond in the last play of the game gave the honours to the Yorkshiremen.

Two tries inside 60 seconds in the first half looked to set Leeds on the way before Tigers fought back.

A close-range scrum gave Leeds the opening try, Tom Barrett scoring in space on the right before adding the conversion. And seconds later Curtis Wilson showed good pace to race over on the left and Barrett made no mistake with his second kick at the posts.

A minute later, though, Curtis looped a pass across his own tryline and, when the ball hit the goalpost, Tigers forward Rob Conquest reacted instantly to catch the rebound and dive over the line. George Ford added the conversion and then supplied the pass for Stephen Macauley to force his way into the right-hand corner. Ford added a touchline conversion to tie the scores, to the delight of the home crowd.

With the last move of the half, Leeds made use of an overlap on the right for Almond to score and Barrett added the extras to give the visitors a lead again at 21-14.

But Tigers were not done yet and Matt Everard exchanged passes with Conquest before scoring on the left. Ford did not connect perfectly with the touchline conversion this time but it still crept over to level the scores.

The crowd leapt up again within a minute when Jimmy Stevens got on the end of a break from Macauley and, when he was tackled short of the line, Everard picked up to add his second try and give Tigers a five-point lead.

That advantage, though, lasted just one minute, as Oli Denton scored for Sale, but a missed conversion from Barrett meant it was all to play for with two minutes remaining and the scores level at 26-26.

Both sides looked for one last break and it was Almond who provided it to give Leeds their first win of the evening.

Leeds scorers: Try -Almond 2, Barrett, Wilson, Denton. Conversion - Barrett 4

Tigers scorers: Try -Everard 2, Conquest, Macauley. Conversion - Ford 3

Sale Sharks 33 Leicester Tigers 10

Sale Sharks grabbed their second win with a clinical first-half performance against their hosts.

Will Cliff scored two tries in the opening two-and-a-half minutes, adding both conversions for good measure. The game was barely a minute old when Cliff latched on to a break from Ben Davey on the right to score and then, after Stephen Macauley had been sin-binned, he burst through on the opposite flank to score again.

Ed Stobart then ran in unopposed to stretch the Sharks lead and Cliff knocked over a third conversion.

Sharks ended the first half with a bonus-point score as a scrum provided the platform and Ed Brierley reached over. Cliff's kick made it 28-0 at the break.

Tigers finally got off the mark with a try from Rory Lynn midway through the second half, stretching for the line after some good pressure, and Leicester edged a little closer when a break from George Ford created space and Macauley worked hard to finish in the right-hand corner.

Josh Fowles provided the icing on the cake for Sharks, however, dotting down on the left in the final attack of the game.

Sale scorers: Try - Cliff 2, Stobart, Brierley, Fowles. Conversion - Cliff 4

Tigers scorers: Try -Lynn, Macauley

Newcastle Falcons 15 Leeds Carnegie 12

Newcastle completed a perfect evening's work, coming from behind to pip Leeds to a qualifying spot with their third win from three games.

Falcons dominated early possession and had hardly allowed Leeds a touch of the ball before Fred Burdon scored the opening try.

Steve Parsons then grabbed a length-of-the-field score - his third try of the evening - to stretch the advantage for Newcastle as the first half reached its final minute.

But Leeds fought back before half-time, as Richard Beck chipped ahead and, when the bounce eluded him underneath the posts, team-mate Oli Denton dived on the loose ball to score. The conversion brought them to within three points of their rivals.

And the Yorkshiremen edged 12-10 ahead when Denton offloaded just short of the line for Curtis Wilson to score before the mid-point in the second half.

Not to be outdone, Jack Smales and Aaron Myers linked up on the right for Falcons and Jack Harrison touched down to put Newcastle back in the lead at 15-12 and seal a good night's work.

Newcastle scorers: Try - Burdon, Parsons, Harrison

Leeds scorers: Try -Denton, Curtis. Con - Almond