SALE'S Eccles cakewalk was utterly avoidable at every turn.
Gloucester's old habit of gifting victories is back – at the most worrying moment.
The Kingsholm men let the Sharks strut around their new home like lords of the league, not relegation wranglers.
The sight of Steve Diamond and Bryan Redpath celebrating in cahoots on the touchline took the currant delicacy of this little North West town, and rammed those pastry flakes right down the Gloucester faithful's throats.
Not even machination man Diamond and ex-Gloucester boss Redpath could believe the ease of their victory.
At the season's crux, all the poise and resilience Gloucester have built under Nigel Davies has crumbled.
The wastelands in the shadow of the M60 that encircle Sale's new Salford City Stadium home might one day be converted into something worthy of note.
Their current desolation resembles Gloucester's situation now.
Still plenty of promise, but the building work has only just begun.
Unless the Cherry and Whites produce at least one more win this season, their campaign could end up looking more like a bomb site than a building ground.
Season run-ins do not come much more taxing than Saracens at home and Exeter away.
Forget the top four, it is the Heineken Cup Gloucester must worry most about now.
There have been too many 'worst performance of the season' moments this term.
When this new-look Gloucester hit their straps they are a driving force to behold and fear.
When they hit the buffers, the fallout is calamitous.
This was supposed to be the night Gloucester won in the most unlikely of places.
Instead this lowly loss confirmed their 11th consecutive season without victory in the North West.
Add this galling going-over to the home defeats to London Irish and Bath as low points of the campaign.
Two turnovers, two charge-downs and two tries – all in the first eight minutes – dished up this contest on a plate for Sale.
Gloucester never recovered, offering only whimpers where brute bludgeon and gritty line-breaking were required.
For the first time this season Davies' side failed to rally from a position of weakness.
This was the first league match all term where Gloucester failed to register a single point.
But not even a 'plucky' losing bonus would have been enough here – for the play-offs, the Cherry and Whites needed the win.
Resolute rugby director Davies will not concede top-four defeat though – and has challenged his men to follow suit.
He explained: "We just want to finish our season strongly now.
"We've let ourselves and our supporters down.
"And we've got to atone for that immediately.
"We lacked fluency on the ball, and we were second-best at the breakdown.
"They defended well and we couldn't really respond.
"There's still everything to play for.
"It's up to us to put it right, nobody else can do it for us."
First Johnny Leota blocked Dan Robson's clearance to dot down – then Dwayne Peel did likewise to Rob Cook.
The cartoon birds fleeted round the stunned visitors' heads, the stars impaired their vision – and that start buoyed up Sale beyond even their expectation or desire.
Gloucester had bungled a half-chance before Sale's first try, and that set their attacking tone for the night.
After those sucker-punch scores, had Mike Tindall shipped on when he cut back inside in the Sale 22, the visitors might have had a chance.
Instead Cameron Shepherd raced home for the try of the night, just before the break.
Sale's set scrum move bewildered Gloucester: the Kingsholm backline expected Peel to take a runaround pass off Nick Macleod.
But the fly-half fired back inside to full-back Shepherd, who cut a smart line to fly home.
Yes the pass was forward – but Gloucester should still have snuffed out the move.
The Television Match Official surely has no role if he cannot even spot a yard-forward pass with the benefit of umpteen replays.
Watching referees jam fingers into ears for minutes on end, just to hear TMOs, is not entertainment.
Try as Gloucester certainly did, they were nothing other than toothless.
Leota and Sam Tuitupou were imposing in defence and straight-running in attack, while Dan Braid and David Seymour blasted Gloucester out of the breakdown battle.
Peel's dummy secured his second try and Sale's bonus point – and then Mark Cueto latched onto a perfect chip from Danny Cipriani to cap the ignominy.
The ultimate test awaits Gloucester now – prove the power of this famed Davies-era resilience and see off Saracens on Saturday.
At the start of this season no one would have criticised a Heineken Cup finish.
Gloucester can still complete an impressive season, even if the play-offs fall out of reach – but only if they pull off a definite and immediate about-turn.
SALE SHARKS: C Shepherd, T Brady (C Amesbury, 56), J Leota, S Tuitupou, M Cueto, N Macleod (D Cipriani, 62), D Peel (N Fowles, 76), A Dickinson (R Harrison, 51), M Jones (T Taylor, 51), H Thomas (T Buckley, 55), K Myall, A Ostrikov (T Holmes, 76), D Braid (R Vernon, 55), D Seymour (capt), J Gaskell.
GLOUCESTER: R Cook (C Sharples, 55), J May, M Tindall (capt) (H Trinder, 55), B Twelvetrees, S Monahan, F Burns, D Robson (D Lewis, 67), N Wood (D Murphy, 49), H Edmonds (K Britton, 17), D Chistolini (Y Thomas, 67), L Lokotui, W James, T Savage (B Morgan, 49), A Qera (A Hazell, 76), S Kalamafoni.
REFEREE: D Rose.
