100% kicker, Butch James was named Man of the Match, perhaps rightly as he scored all but five of Bath's 26 points. However the Bath forwards did a marvellous job against massive opponents in appalling conditions. For the Bath props to face two men weighing 22 and 20 stones respectively must have tested their stamina to the limit. Borthwick and Short kept the scrums and line-outs very tight, with Short continuing with his excellent attacking runs on several occasions to keep Albi on the backfoot. Michael Lipman continued his good form, on one occasion stealing ball from the hands of the Albi scrum-half at an Albi scrum. However I felt that Andy Beattie was the pick of our forwards, looking back to his "Beastie" best.

Bath started strongly, attacking deep into Albi territory, and were awarded a penalty after five minutes when camped on the Albi goal line. Somewhat surprisingly skipper Borthwick opted for a kick at goal rather than keeping Albi on the backfoot. I expected a catch and drive lineout but had to be content with Butch James scoring the first of his six successful conversions.

After this early success it seemed as though Bath would pile on the pressure and points when they got something of a shock. At their next attacking play the ball was lost and Albi hoofed the ball forward and it rather comically bounced over the head of Bath's last defender, Joe Maddock, who saw the Albi fly-half, Matthieu Maillard, grab the ball and sprint in to score with the home team's first meaningful possession.

Bath were clearly knocked by this score, evident from Butch James scuffing the restart with the ball failing to reach the 10 metre line, and Albi took some limited control for the following ten minutes. The home team extended their lead to 8-3 after 18 minutes when Bath were adjudged to have handled in a ruck on the edge of their twenty-two. With the rain falling as though from a giant bucket, Bath were losing shape and making too many unforced errors. This period of the match was very reminiscent of last week against Cardiff at the Rec.

Fortunately Bath got break after 21 minutes when the bulky French prop, Jerome Filitoga was sin binned for picking up Shaun Berne and throwing him to the ground in a dangerous fashion. The penalty was slotted home by James and suddenly Bath found themselves just two points in arrears. Bath then had two great opportunities to score but fell short of their goal. Firstly Butch James couldn't keep hold of Walshe's pass when the whole of the Bath backline was well placed to attack and secondly Lee Mears was penalised for taking out a defender from the side at a Bath ruck a few feet from the try-line.

Bath finally took the lead when Short, Walshe and Berne set up Andy Beattie to run in a good try with a couple of defenders desperately trying to prevent the Bath flanker from crossing the line. But Albi refused to lie down and a few minutes before half-time they took advantage of Bath being offside to reduce the deficit to two points at the break.

Bath started the second half with an error in front of their posts which gave Albi an opportunity to grab the lead with a drop goal but Maillard couldn't take the ball cleanly and a miss-kick by fullback, John Stewart gave Joe Maddock an opportunity to run from defence and set up Beattie for another bit of bullocking brilliance. Albi were penalised at the ensuing ruck and Butch James punished them.

Fifteen minutes in to the second half Butch James added to his conversions with a try. After Bath had continuously swarmed all over the Albi twenty-two James motioned for Walshe to make a blindside pass and the South African caught the defence flat. His quick thinking saw James slide in for a score with three Albi players frozen to the spot. This try was joined by a conversion and a penalty.

Bath continued to create scoring opportunities but were unable to add to their points. Tom Cheeseman lost the ball as he was tackled on the try-line and Jonny F stretched out a long arm but couldn't ground the ball on the line.

As in the first half, Albi scored an opportunist try, this time with Abendanon unable to take a high ball after 81 minutes and Albi replacement, Frederic Manca, snatched possession and ran in to score to make the score closer than was deserved.

Whilst Bath didn't take all their chances this was a tough game against a big and powerful, if somewhat limited, French side in dreadful conditions. It was definitely a case of win the game and get home as quickly as possible. well done Bath!

Referee: Neil Patterson

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