It was one of those moments when your senses shut out everything except that on which you are concentrating. Despite the noise you hear nothing. Total silence in your world as you watch. Watch the ball. Watch the ball leaving Hodgson's boot. Watch the ball turning end over end as it rises in a perfect arc towards the goal posts. Your goal posts.

Through the posts and they win. Miss and you win, simple really. 

You watch. You watch and hold your breath. You watch and lean to one side, urging the ball to deviate from its projected course. Real time is a few seconds, your time is for ever as you watch the ball fly through the air and...and.... miss.

It's missed, Hodgson has missed! 

Everyone around you whoops and hollers knowing that not only is it important to win games, it is essential to win home games and this one very nearly slipped through the grasp of Bath Rugby.

But it shouldn't have got to this stage. The Rec faithful shouldn't have been holding their collective breath or leaning to one side to encourage the ball to miss its target. The Bath players had enough chances to make the game safe earlier in the match and it was their unforced errors that created too many point scoring opportunities for Sale.

Three minutes later Charlie's boot failed him after Ian Davey was adjudged to have been too possessive with the ball on the floor. An out of form Hodgson was just what the doctor ordered during pre-match discussions about our chances. Davey was the target for much of the early Sale aerial bombardment, and later was joined by the rest of the Bath backline as Hodgson and his fellows hoofed ball after ball towards the clouds. Fortunately the young winger proved he has a safe pair of hands on a good many occasions. His colleagues did well with the high bombs as well.

In the opening 15 minutes Bath looked to play the ball wide as often as they could and it was exciting stuff. Forwards and backs looked comfortable in possession and it was no surprise when a second try took the score to 12-0.

Bath snatched a Sale line-out on half-way, Dixon fed Claassens who moved the ball out wide until it reached Banahan who dashed to the Sale twenty-two and set up a ruck. The ball was whipped across field and ended up with Davey who was hauled down short of the try line. The ball was shifted to Scaysbrook who pumped his legs towards the goal-posts but it was a few pumps too far. The ball was again re-cycled and Berne looped it wide to Banahan to finish the move with a score. Unfortunately the young winger was injured as he scored and had to be replaced by Jack Cuthbert.

I sat back in my chair having enjoyed the various passages of play which suggested this might be something of an easy afternoon. However my smugness was somewhat premature as Bath then decided to turn this potential try-scoring bonus point match into a nail-biting experience of Wales/Fiji proportions. 

Firstly Hodgson halved the deficit with a penalty and just after Shaun Berne missed a sitter in front of the Sale posts Hodgson slotted home a simple drop-kick after Bath created chaos in their own defence. Grewcock won a Bath lineout but there was no scrum-half on hand to mop up. The ball was scooped back to Berne but in his haste to clear his defence he knocked the ball forward. The scrum set up a series of attacks which Bath repelled with great gusto however Hodgson's boot ensured his team left the Bath red zone with points on the board.

Ben Foden's try, three minutes later, and Hodgson's conversion stole the lead on the half-hour. Again this came from an error in the line-out. Dixon's throw wasn't straight and the resulting scrum gave Sale an opportunity to sweep through a shapeless Bath defence. In less than 15 minutes the West Country side had transformed themselves from confident ball-players to confused ball-watchers and suddenly the game was slipping away.

A late penalty ensured the home side trotted off for their oranges with a three point lead and a sigh of relief that they could re-group and re-discover their form.

Two early second half penalties saw Sale regain the lead and then stretch it a bit further. At 15-19 they looked like favourites to grab the points. Rob Hawkins replaced Dixon and continued our lineout catastrophes by losing his first two throws to Sale. My smugness had long ago been replaced with deep concern.

A 79th minute Berne penalty gave the home supporters the relief they had been seeking. The key for both sides at the restart was possession and it was Sale who grabbed the ball to set up Hodgson with two opportunities to score with his "normally" reliable drop-kicking. The first he scuffed along the ground but was handed another opportunity with moments to go and, as we now know, he sliced it just wide of the upright.

Phew!

Despite the errors which made this game closer than it should have been I can see genuine progress with many of our players. Stephenson isn't a full-back but he was solid in defence. Cheeseman and Higgins both made strong runs and were within a shoulder shuffle of losing their tackler on several occasions. We are becoming blessed with exciting wingers who are willing to take on defenders. 

Peter Short looked injured at the start but played with strength and commitment and the props showed heart throughout. Tell me, what has Phil, Vickery got that David Barnes hasn't? 

Scaysbrook and Browne were in good form but the Beast looks, to my untutored eye, out of sorts. 

This wasn't a performance Claassens or Berne will want to remember.

But it's a win and we would have gladly bought this win last season.

Referee: