Bath had the first opportunity to put points on the board after five minutes but Chris Malone slotted the ball right of the posts and Sale similarly missed their first pot at goal a few minutes later. Bath's prop problems continued when new recruit Jon Dawson limped off after just 15 minutes which saw local lad Laurence Ovens join the game.

Bath secured their second penalty when Chris Malone grabbed the ball from the base of a scrum which saw Sale No 8 Sebastien Chabal lose control. Malone fed Joe Maddock who dashed upfield to give Bath excellent field position and Sale were penalised. Malone finished off the move with a successful penalty to make the score 3-0 after 20 minutes.

Picture courtesy Jules

Sale secured a kickable penalty after 25 minutes but skipper Jason Robison opted for a kick in to the Bath twenty-two. Bath defended the catch and drive and forced Daniel Larrechea to drop at goal. Chris Malone put the Frenchman under pressure and he missed. Lee Thomas made amends a couple of minutes later with a 40 metre penalty after Danny Grewcock was penalised for not rolling away at a ruck.

From a very high Chris Malone restart Bath took control of play and after a series of phases Sale conceded a penalty to enable the Bath fly half to take his team back in to the lead, 6-3.

Sebastien Chabal was sin binned just before half-time for killing the ball after Bath had used a strong rolling maul to make their way towards the Sale goal line. Chris Malone gave the visitors a double-whammy by converting the ensuing penalty. A great Bath scrum saw them grab the ball on the next Sale attack to clear their lines when it seemed as though the visitors could make an immediate impact on the scoreline. However Sale scored the first try of the game from nowhere, four minutes in to injury time. A chip and catch from Chris Bell saw him run under the posts to score. The conversion gave Sale a (slightly unexpected) 9-10 lead at half-time to frustrate the Bath faithful.

Picture courtesy Jules

Sale extended their lead with another penalty after 48 minutes to make the score 9-13 and this was extended by a further three points a few moments later after Bath were penalised at a line out. Bath had to make changes to try and get back on terms with Sale and Olly Barkley replaced Nick Abendanon.

Chris Malone drew his side within four points with 20 minutes to go with a penalty and made it one point when Sale were once again penalised for killing a ruck. The Bath forwards then put on the pressure and they were rewarded with a penalty but his miss was met with a massive groan around the ground. But Malone made amends for this miss with a late, and somewhat scraggy, drop goal which crept over to give Bath a 18-16 lead.

Picture courtesy Jules

Bath played out the clock and were cheered by a great and dogged victory over the Premiership Champions. A great result to set the team up for next weeks derby clash at Bristol.

Referee: Ashley Rowden

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon