In the earlier game this season Bath managed a tremendous 43-25 win and this game ended up as exciting as the first encounter.

Bath made an immediate impact from the kick-off with good attacking play following an initial fumble by Chev Walker but Leicester turned over Bath possession and were within five metres of the Bath goal line when Dan Hipkiss knocked forward. The game immediately saw quick play from both sides  reflecting the excellent ground conditions for fast, running rugby. However strong winds impacted on kicking throughout the afternoon.

Bath had their first scoring opportunity after six minutes but Joe Maddock lost possession in the tackle, as he tried to offload to a colleague, just five metres from the Leicester line. Moments later they had another opportunity to trouble the scoreboard after a Tigers' hand infringed at a ruck but Olly Barkley failed to punish the home team as his penalty from half-way was caught by the wind and dropped under the cross bar.

Joe Maddock was on fire in the early moments of the match and looked as though he'd scored after 14 minutes but referee, Wayne Barnes, adjudged the pass to the Bath flyer as being forward. Aghhh - three chances all missed!

Despite Bath dominating possession and territory for twenty minutes, it was Leicester who scored first with an excellent break-away try, finished off by Johne Murphy, from a team able to show their visitors how to make the most of a chance. The disappointment of conceding a try set Bath on the back foot and suddenly Leicester found themselves controlling the game. To demonstrate the wind advantage for Tigers in the first half Andy Goode attempted a penalty from some 54 metres. He had the distance but failed with his accuracy.

With just eight minutes of the first half remaining Bath finally grabbed some points with a simple Olly Barkley penalty in front of the posts. But disaster then struck the visitors from the restart as they lost possession and then were caught asleep as Leon Lloyd snuck up the touchline to score a second try for Tigers. As if to hammer a Tiger-striped wooden stake through the heart of the Bath players and supporters, Tom Varndell grabbed a second opportunist try within 60 seconds of the Lloyd try. Despite dominating play Bath suddenly found themselves 19-3 down and almost out of the game before the end of the first half.

Bath then did what they desperately needed, they scored a try before the break. Joe Maddock finally touched down after James Scaysbrook grabbed the ball at a ruck in the Leicester Red Zone to set up a trio of phases before the Kiwi scored. Barkley's conversion took the half time score to 19-10.

Bath started the second half (no doubt fresh from a Borthwick tongue lashing) as they did the first, running and attacking the Tigers' goal line and it was only a few moments before referee Barnes awarded a penalty to the visitors when Andy Goode failed to roll away from his tackle. Olly Barkley reduced the Tigers lead to six with a simple conversion.

David Bory took a nasty knock and despite getting to his feet and wanting to play on he was replaced by Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu. Nick Abendanon made a break out of defence similar to that seen at the Rec last week and it took a head-high tackle by Brett Deacon on half-way to stop the young full-back. Olly Barkley scored from the penalty and Deacon was lucky to escape a binning for his action.

Leicester then caught the Bath disease, missing out on a try as Tom Varndell failed to touch down when it looked as though he would score. Steve Meehan made a series of changes with twenty minutes to go in the hope that his replacements could take advantage of the opportunities his team were creating. 

Deacon may have escaped the bin but try-scorer Tom Vardell was sent from the field for a ten minute rest for obstructing play. Barkley's penalty conversion brought Bath from 19-3 down to 19-19: a remarkable recovery.

After 62 minutes Bath finally took the lead when Steve Borthwick charged to the Tigers' twenty-two and set up Shaun Berne for a drop goal. Gareth Delve injured his leg and had to be replaced by replacement hooker, Rob Hawkins, which required a re-shuffle within the Bath pack.

The Bath lead was very short lived. Within a minute they conceded a Daryl Gibson try (again all too easily) giving Leicester a scoring bonus point. Goode's touchline conversion made the score 26-22. With just under 10 minutes left Olly Barkley thwacked over a massive penalty to take the game to 26-25.

With six minutes remaining Andy Goode snatched at a drop goal and missed but he immediately bought his team a kickable penalty by wrapping up Olly Barkley who was penalised for not releasing the ball. This moved the score to 29-25.

Bath then attacked the Leicester line with real gusto and several times it looked like they might score. Eventually, with 2:41 on the clock Bath were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. Steve Borthwick opted for a lineout to try and snatch the game at the death but the ball (and opportunity) was lost. 

However the Bath players refused to lie down and continued to attack as the countdown clock ticked its way towards the end of the match. The game could have been wrapped up by the visitors in the final seconds but Nick Abendanon knocked the ball forward as he crossed the goal line. Everyone thought the game was over but referee Barnes brought the game back for a Bath penalty in front of the Tigers' posts. The final play of the game saw a Bath scrum and Eliota Fuimaono-Sapol crossed the line, for what the visitors hoped would be a score, but the referee adjudged the Bath player was held up to ensure a Tigers' win. Phew, what a game!

This was a game Bath could and should have won, they had the chances but were not able to make the most of them. There will be a lot of positives the coaches can take away from this visit to Welford Road but they will reflect on what might have been and go home very frustrated.

Referee: Wayne Barnes

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