And it was Kevin Sorrell’s 300^th appearance for the club. After he was supposedly the victim of Dr Ventner’s long knife 9 months ago and a serious injury kept him out for nearly the same period, it was true pleasure to applaud the landmark of a Sarries legend; even if his Father Christmas impression is rubbish. He ran on with two small children and milked the applause of all. It was just a pity there were not more there to show their respect for a truly great club servant. There was also a very tasteful minutes silence with a last post at the end.  

So to the match; Sarries started strongly and should have been ahead after 2 minutes. The ball was worked towards the East stand; then play was switched back towards the Rous. With a two man overlap and Del on the touchline, a try seemed certain; but our new hooker Ethienne Reynecke instead of slipping the ball on to the speedster went on his own. Unfortunately, he was caught two yards out and bundled into touch. Sarries kept Bath under pressure however, and a few minutes later whilst playing advantage, there was an overlap on the other wing. Unfortunately again, this time Michael Horak hung on to the ball when Wacky Backy was clear. Still we came back for the penalty and Glen slotted it over.  

Bath came back strongly after a knock-on and Sarries mucked up the defence of it. Barrett seemed to have pinched the ball with a stamp, but it bounced backwards to   Fa'amatuainu as the scrum turned who ended up in the open on his own well inside the 22 and he made no mistake. Nicky Little missed the kick; another erratic day with the boot at VR. Shortly afterwards Sarries got another penalty from a scrummage to claw back the lead 6-5. Bath though responded well with a chip over the top from Cheeseman which looked dangerous but a sliding clearance to touch from a speeding Del from the other wing cleared the danger. I must admit, that I thought Del was lucky to escape without a penalty and a potential yellow card as he really did seem to pat the ball into touch. Perhaps the slide let him get away with it. Anyway it was all irrelevant as Bath drove the lineout well. Sarries did stop the initial drive; Bath then picked and drove close to the maul half a dozen times before pushing a longer flat pass to Hobson against a couple of backs; I think it was Glen. Good choice for Hobson and Little added the extras from close in. 6-12.  

Then it was Sarries turn for a bit of pressure and a try seemed on for around 10 phases before it finally arrived. First the ball was worked left, then right with Bath committing at least one penalty offense and with the referee’s arm showing advantage it came back to Rod Penney at fly-half. His cross-kick was as good as Glen’s and Justin Melck picked up to crash over from 10 yards out. Glen unfortunately missed the conversion to leave the match poised at 11-12. Now I know that several of us love the Barrell, but Justin Melck played out of his skin today and deserved his try. Shortly afterwards Jackson added 3 more for a 14-12 lead. However the Sarries scrum was under pressure all first-half and it wasn’t surprising that Little was able to finally slot one over for a 14-15 lead at the break. Tom Mercey seems to be struggling after a great couple of seasons although he did seem to be pulled down by Barnes, who had hold of the front of Tom’s shirt on a couple of occasions.          

Being a Sarries supporter I am used to adversity and although we were behind I felt confident we could bring it back. Dr V made a couple of changes at half-time, bringing on Skuse at tight-head and a debut for James Short in place of Wacky Backy who took a knock just before the break. I am so glad to see youngsters like James coming through, as I’ve seen him play for the A-team for a number of years speeding down the wing. Certainly they were up for it at the start of the half, with a long period of play with multiple phases. For a moment it appeared that Kevin Sorrell had slipped his marker and was about to dance in for a classic try; but was just caught 10 yards out. However, quick ball ensued and with the ball moving along the line quickly, Del was in space and skipped in for a great try. Glen added the conversion for a six point lead. Shortly afterwards further Sarries pressure on the Bath twenty-two forced Bath to go over the top at a ruck; Glen added the three points for a cushion at 24-15. Sarries seemed in complete control and the bonus point loomed       

With changes happening on both sides, Bath seemed to recover more quickly and picked up the pace with a number of phases close to the line; Little managing to start kicking well and pinning Sarries back in their own 22. A knock-on gave Bath the platform to repeatedly push forward and although Sarries defended well in the end an overlap was worked on the East stand side and Fa'amatuainu crashed over for his second try. The conversion also made it over to bring the score back to a 2 point difference still with a quarter of the match to go. The match was too close to call now, as Sarries seemed to have gone off the boil. Sarries then introduced Neil deK and Alex Goode for some extra pace and seemed to move up a gear. There were a few more kicks and Sarries seemed to get the better of the exchanges. A turnover just outside the 22 led to another penalty; the decision was taken to kick it rather than go for the corner. This actually surprised me, as it seemed to indicate Sarries were looking for just the win rather than the bonus point; Glen slotted over the kick from wide out.  

Bath were not daunted though and with Little finding his range Sarries had a couple of critical line-outs to win on their own line. Chatting to Martin I suddenly realised that Bath needed another try not just for the win but for the bonus point. Sarries despite Baths best efforts seemed to be winning the kicking battle, not least because Bath were not chasing their kicks, but Sarries were. Schalk Brits on for the brilliant Joubert was like a terrier chasing kicks up and running anything; I do like him. As we entered the last 5 minutes, Sarries were the ones with the territory advantage. Just outside the Bath 22 Sarries forced the Bath scrum to stand up; excellent pressure after the trouble Sarries were in the first half. Glen however, missed the fairly straightforward kick. Bath seemed so keen to follow-up the drop out they stood in front of Nicky Little with the ball for ages until the referee forced them back. It wasted about 30 seconds and when Sarries ran back the drop out to the Bath 22 they collected other penalty after Bath came in from the side (again). This time from a more difficult kick Glen slotted home for an 8 point win. Sarries have finally learned how to close out games with a simple take from the restart; hold on until the clock is up and put to touch.  

Overall a decent performance that Sarries deserved; the early greed making the bonus point more difficult. Bath too played well although they were a little lucky with the first try, they thoroughly deserved the other two. I was surprised that Meehan complained at the penalty count; Bath seemed to be overly competitive at the breakdown; not entirely sure where the two rear pillars were and I for one was surprised they were not carded as well. Sarries struggled with the scrum in the first half, but the introduction of Skuse sorted that out; I’m worries about Mercey: Cobus needs to have a word. The lineout was solid and we pinched a fair few of Baths.  

All in all a satisfactory performance and one which sees us at the top of our group table; that seems strangely familiar           

Scores:

Saracens; Tries for Haughton and Melck; Jackson one conversion and 6 penalties: 30

Bath; 2 tries for Fa'amatuainu, one for Hobson; Little one conversion and one penalty; David one conversion: 22 

Saracens: Horak, Haughton, Penney, Sorrell, Tagicakibau, Jackson, Barrett, Aguero, Reynecke, Mercey, Smith, Botha, van Heerden, Melck, Joubert.

Replacements: Goode for Horak (60), Short for Tagicakibau (40), de Kock for Barrett (58), Ongaro for Reynecke (53), Skuse for Mercey (40), Brits for Joubert (51). Not Used: Lealamanua, Ryder.

Bath: Cuthbert, Stephenson, Cheeseman, Williams, Crane, Little, Bemand, Barnes, Hawkins, Jarvis, Hobson, Short, Browne, Ovens, Fa'amatuainu.

Replacements: Davis for Crane (46), Baxter for Bemand (46), Catt for Barnes (65), Dixon for Hawkins (65), Lilley for Jarvis (74), Beattie for Browne (51), Mercer for Ovens (55), Jackson for Fa'amatuainu (76).  

Att: 6,654

Ref: D Richards (RFU).

Picture Credit: PhilFez

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