If the loss to Bristol wasn't bad enough, Bath lost Duncan Bell, Andy Williams and Shaun Berne to injuries which may be a worse result than the score-line itself.

In this first meeting of the season between these two great rivals the weather was always going to play its part and so it did. In the first half Bristol appeared to adapt better to the conditions and in the second Bath appeared to be reluctant to test the wind with several penalty-kick opportunities which may have won them the game.

After five minutes Bristol had the first opportunity to trouble the scoreboard with a penalty pot at goal, but Danny Gray soon discovered the vagaries of the strong wind at the Memorial Stadium as he watched his kick flash wide of the posts. Within moments Chris Malone similarly fell foul of the weather conditions as two of his clearance kicks sailed past the dead ball line to give Bristol two scrums at the spot the Bath fly-half hoofed the ball. To compound the errors, Bristol scored their first points as Gray dropped a goal following the scrum from Malone's second kicking error.

Bristol totally dominated the first 30 minutes of the half and just before they scored their try, swift of foot hooker David Blaney, caught Bath on the back foot and should have scored.

However before Bristol were able to extend their lead Bath scored after 18 minutes following a great break from their own twenty-two which saw the backs letting loose with their passes for the first time and they will be disappointed not to have scored a try. At least they walked away from the attack with three points to make the score 3-3.

Jason Hobson then scored the opening try of the match after 25 minutes when Geraint Lewis recycled what appeared to be a lost opportunity as he tidied up a ruck to give the Bristol prop a chance to grab the ball and side-step Matt Perry to score. This all started from a poor Bath lineout which saw an uncomfortable Jonny Faamatuainu lose possession and set up the Bristol attack. 8-3.

Bath's woes increased when Chris Malone was yellow carded for appearing to trip Danny Gray on the half hour: Malone protested his innocence indicating he caught his foot in the mud and therefore the situation looked far worse than it was but referee Davey was unmoved and sent the Bath Aussie to the lonliness of the bin. Bath looked to be struggling and getting a little desperate when Rob Fidler dropped the ball in front of the Bristol line with Chris Goodman outside him and Shaun Berne attempted a drop goal from well inside his own half.

Things turned in favour of the visitors after thirty-six minutes when Bath prop, Duncan Bell, gave himself a birthday present by scoring a try to make the score 8-8. A penalty to Bath saw Zac Feau'nati opt for a line-out from a penalty rather than kick for goal. A catch and drive saw the Bath pack go across the Bristol try line and fall on the ball. Berne missed the conversion to keep the scores even.

Half time 8-8.

Irishman Blaney almost broke Bath hearts again after just a few moments of the second half. He broke away from the defenders and set up Brian O'Riordan but was well tackled by Ian Davey who ensured the Bristol scrum half fell in to touch. However Bristol grabbed their second try just a few minutes later after Bath fluffed their lineout lines giving away a scrum to Bristol from which they were able to score through Walter Pozzebon. Rob Fidler, who had been struggling with a bad back before the game, was immediately replaced by Dan Smith.

Bath replied within five minutes with a second try of their own. Shaun Berne took the ball in his own half, chipped and caught the ball against a flat-footed Bristol defence, was brought down just in front of the Bristol line but he was able to offload to Michael Stephenson to score. The Malone conversion took the score to 15 -15.

Bath almost scored a third try a few minutes later but Bernardo Stortoni saved the attack by David Flatman and the home side ended up with a clearing penalty. Shaun Berne set up another opportunity with a two on one attack but poor Johnny F (again) failed to catch the ball. Unfortunately for Bath the potential game breaker, Shaun Berne, took a knock to his ankle and was replaced by Joe Maddock.

Andy Williams took a very quick free kick and was tackled by Brian Lemi right on the try line just as he was ready to celebrate his score. Unfortunately the Welshman had to leave shortly afterwards with a sore arm and was replaced by new Italian recruit, Pietro Travagli.

Bath took control of the second half, especially after David Flatman replaced David Barnes. The visitors secured several penalties from their scrummaging power-plays but the strong wind made them reluctant to have a shot at goal and none of these opportunities resulted in a score. 

Bad news for Bath as Duncan Bell was taken off with a twisted knee. Then Flatman gives away a penalty through collapsing a scrum as he moved across to the tight head. Within moments Bristol scored a try through Stanojevic. The conversion hit the crossbar and tumbled over to give Bristol a 22-15 lead.

Bath continued attacking but to know avail and Bristol ran out 22-15 winners.

Bristol: Stortoni; Stanojevic, Pozzebon, Reay, Lemi; Gray, O'Riordan; Clarke, Blaney, Hobson, Sambucetti, Budgett, To'oala, Short, Lewis.
Replacements: Irish, Nelson, Attwood, Martin-Redman, Thompson, Nicholls, Arscott.

Bath: Perry; Stephenson, Cheeseman, Berne, Davey; Malone, Williams; Barnes, Hawkins, Bell; Fidler, Faamatuainu; Scaysbrook, Goodman, Feau'nati.
Replacements: Brooker, Flatman, Short, Smith, Travagli, Maddock, Abendanon.

Referee: Sean Davey (RFU)

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Bath Poll