Ok, cards on the table time – we got back from Bath at 6pm Sunday after a very pleasant weekend in Bath, and on the train, I managed to get my ideas together on the report. After reading the initial reviews on the forum, every man and his dog seems to have his views, most with a healthy dose of vitriol, so I really have never felt less than doing a match report in my life. I have not had any recourse to replays or Sky transmissions and could not see anything of the Battle of the Bulge at the end so I will tell you what I saw from Row J of Block C and try not to be too one eyed. 

Yes of course it rained – it always does at the Rec, but the downpour out of a clear blue sky as the teams walked out seemed to sting Sarries into action, and when Andy Saull overturned Bath possession at the first ruck and sent Chris Wyles over after 26 seconds, at least Sarries had the honour of the fastest try of the season. Glen missed the extras, and as expected Bath came back strongly. Both sides seemed determined to run the ball when given the chance and the first 15 minutes passed with some good play but with neither side particularly threatening the line. Cencus was pinged twice in succession, once for a high tackle, and Mr Debney seemed to be using his right arm exclusively to penalise Sarries.

The first significant event after the try was Mr D showing a yellow card to Tom Mercey for his second bout of fisticuffs in as many minutes. Whether he was goaded into it by his older and wiser oppos I am not sure, but Ryan Davis, deputising for the injured Butch James reduced the lead to two points. With Tom’s binning still running, Hugh Vyvyan also saw yellow for killing the ball, and Davis put the home side into the lead which they were never to relinquish. With Sarries down to 13, it was only a matter of time before Bath capitalised and after 13 or so phases, the holes appeared and Joe Maddock skipped round Noah Cato to touch down in the corner. Davis converted and the score was 13-5 with Sarries still two men down.

Somehow Sarries saw out the half strongly. Glen butchered a golden opportunity to pin back his ears and got a dose of agoraphobia, squandering possession whilst looking for non existent support. Another promising move broke down when Neil de Kock had to hold back a pass which would have landed somewhere near a prostrate Justin Harrison who was being treated at the time. Sarries were penalised at the resulting scrum.  Glen finally reduced the arrears when Debney finally remembered he had a left arm, but Bath came close to scoring with the clock run down, until a final pass to Abendanon ended up in row C. 

The second half started, and hey guess what? It rained again. 4 out of 4 now in the Helphire Stand. When will I learn?  

Bath came out strongly again, but Sarries pinned back the lead to 2 points when Glen slotted his second penalty of the afternoon. Sarries were back in it, but a moment of madness by the otherwise impressive Andy Saull handed Bath the initiative again and they never looked back.

When Bath hacked through a loose ball, it never really looked like the Nick Abendanon would make the ground, but Saully took out the man and even though the ball ran harmlessly dead, he was walking before Debney had even reached for his pocket. Davis slotted the 3 and the game was almost up. Bath had a short range try disallowed for crossing, but Glen missed touch and the home side ran the ball back, made some good yards and some great interplay between the forwards led to a classic second row try when Justin Harrison fed Peter Short who took an inside centre’s line and scored under the posts from the 22. 23-11, and Bath looking comfortable.

Another penalty shortly after made it 26-11 to the hosts. Sarries refused to lie down however, and following a lengthy injury delay for knocks to Duncan Bell and Dave Flatman, the game resumed with uncontested scrums.

Justin Marshall, on for de Kock finally got the back line moving well and Noah Cato went over in the left corner. Glen got the conversion spot on and Sarries were back with a slim hope. Bath had another effort chalked off in a carbon copy of the crossing incident, and with time running out Sarries began to storm the Bath line.

With 3 minutes on the clock, and pushing for a score that would make the last few moments exciting, Matt Banhanan intercepted near his own line and ran in unopposed from 90 yards to seal third spot and a visit to the Walkers for his team. 

The final whistle went with Alex Goode flat out on half way and just about every other man on the pitch in a mass brawl up by the clubhouse end. Us down in Block C had no chance of telling what was going on, so again I will leave judgement to others. We feared for Alex, seeing him still lying on the ground as we crossed the bridge back into the town, but whether he was stretchered off, or as one Bath supporter told me in the Old Green Tree “he jumped up and wandered off himself” remains to be confirmed. My own judgement tells me our man in Blue and Black in the Green Tree had had one too many sherberts, and we wish Alex well. 

Nick Abendanon probably deserved his MoM award as he was at the heart of the best Bath moments, but his “dead fly” impersonation when he ran into Andy Saull at a restart was quite frankly pathetic and has no place in rugby. There were quite a few “impartial” spectators around us from a club somewhere oop north, and there were more Scouse accents roundly deriding him than Sarries fans, so I think I am not being too one eyed here. 

Whatever, three sin binnings is plainly unacceptable. To run a team in third fairly close when there is nothing to play for league-wise would not be a bad effort, but to do it while down to 14 or 13 men for the thick end of 30 minutes is folly of the highest order. Who knows what would have happened if even one of the binnings had not happened.

Skullduggery? Premeditated? I think not. I was a hard and tempestuous game, which is how rugby should be. A couple of silly incidents potentially cost us dearly, and pray God that we sort out our discipline before Friday night. 

Good luck to Bath at the Walkers. 

Here’s to the future. Whatever it brings. 

Bath: Abendanon; Higgins, Cheeseman, Hape, Banahan; Davis, Claassens; Flatman, Mears, Bell; Harrison, Short; Beattie, Lipman (capt), Hooper.
Replacements: Hawkins, Ion, Faamatuainu, Scaysbrook, Bemand, Berne, Stephenson.

Saracens: Goode; Wyles, Powell, Farrell, Cato; Jackson, De Kock; Mercey, Walker, Johnston; Borthwick (capt), Vyvyan; Jack, Saull, Skirving.
Replacements: Cairns, Visagie, Ryder, Barrell, Marshall, Ross, Haughton.

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