Newport arrived in Bath full of confidence after their victory against Glasgow last weekend, yet their game plan was to disrupt rather than attack Bath and to their credit it worked.  Never have I seen such domination of possession and territory that Bath evidently enjoyed in the first half.  The Dragons only managed to get into Bath's half three times in the first forty minutes and on two occasions it was merely to restart the game after two Bath penalties.

Bath started off the match with intent, after Butch James cleverly switched the kick-off to the right, Bath then produced a sustained period of possession with Stevens looking increasingly strong.  Yet Newport started as they meant to go on with resolute defence.

It was not until the 12^th Minute that the first points came.  A high tackle on Shaun Berne left Butch James with a relatively difficult kick from the 15 metre line on the left which he slotted with confidence.  It was from here that Bath were expected to cut loose but Newport really dug deep in defence.  Their back row was in sensational form with Charvis being at his annoying best and Joe Bearman (the former pirate) showing he has the class to compete at this level.  Their effort was all the more inspiring considering that once they had produced turnover after turnover with their half backs consistently slicing the ball into touch.

Nick Abendanon produced a great break on twenty minutes to set Bath up with decent field position but a Newport hand killing the ball in the ruck denied them the opportunity, but presented Butch with a simple 3 points in front of the posts 6-0. Just two minutes later Charvis lay all over the ball on the half way line and after persistent offending, the Italian referee lost his patience and sent him to the sin bin.   

From here Bath, Claassens and James in particular, tried to increase the tempo. After another technical offence at the ruck, James executed a cross field kick that Maddock could run on to. The pressure on the Dragons full back Dollman forced him to take the ball back into his 22 and when he cleared on the full, Bath had an attacking platform.    Newport again defended with hunger and they managed to thwart the Bath attack. 

Much praise has to be handed to the Newport midfield that was excellent throughout.  Stcherbina and Sidey produced a master class in text book defending, always going low and missing nothing.   In Toulouse the fizzing passes of James and Berne had released Abendanon and Banahan into space but Newport  anticipated each move and kept their structure well in midfield. 

It was perhaps a change of game plan that brought Bath their best move of the match after thirty minutes. From a solid scrum just inside their own half Faamatuainu controlled the ball well at the base of the scrum, which presented Claassens with quick ball who fed James at pace. He drifted to the right, and instead of moving the ball wide to the covered midfield he gave a pop pass inside to Banahan who broke the line on the inside shoulder of Arlidge at speed. Banahan showed great awareness as he realized that he was covered from his right and from the advancing fullback so he ran towards the left touchline to give a pass to the supporting Faamatuainu 30 meters out. Many thought he would have the pace to beat his defender but an excellent tackle form Dollman brought Banahan down.  He tried to offload but could only find the boot laces of Crockett who could only hack the ball into touch.   

Newport survived the rest of the half heroically without Charvis, To compound Bath's frustration Claassens had to leave the field just before the interval: this was his first injury sustained in Bath colors and was replaced by Bemand.  Bath had little to show for their effort at half time 6-0.

Newport gained confidence from their defensive effort in the first half, and came out in the second half believing that they had laid down a foundation of possible victory.   Immediately from the kick-off they received a penalty which Arlidge converted with ease and the game was in the balance at 6-3.  Two minutes later Banahan  showed why he can be so destructive. From a position of little threat he bounced Fussell and then showed deft touch to chip Dollman, he only then had to collect the kind bounce, which was somehow fumbled .This  summed  up Bath's afternoon. 

Bath continued to attack the resolute defence that offered no holes.  Bath had to be content with a string of penalties, but James missed two kickable goals.  When Lewis Evans was sin binned in the 51^st minute Bath decided to go for the kill with a kick to touch from the resulting penalty, but a truck and trailer offence compounded the frustration.  When Newport finally maintained possession they were as careless as Bath with the amount of turnovers increasing. The Dragons looked set to score after some hard running up the middle only for David Barnes  (an early second half substitution for Flatman)  to emerge with the ball and Bath to clear the danger. 

Meehan threw on his substitutions in one final push for some tries. Higgins (on for Banahan) immediately made an impact breaking the midfield at great pace.  After some strong forward play from Stevens, Bath were rewarded a penalty 5 metres out in front of the sticks and instead of taking the easy 3 points Lipman called a scrum.  Bath went through four or five phases, and once the defense was sucked in Dixon (on for Mears) combined with his fellow super sub, Higgins, to score in the corner to a huge sigh of relief from the home support.  The now famous Andy Higgins supporters club in Helphire block J could be heard around the ground.

The game seemed to be over but the Dragons had other ideas, they sensed the opportunity of a bonus point and hit Bath hard through some strong forward play and were rewarded with two difficult chances which Shaun Connor (on for Arlidge) slotted perfectly.  This left Bath with a tricky final four minutes but The Dragons never threatened, and once Bath had turned over possession James kicked it in the stand.  Final Score 13-9.

In Conclusion Newport produced an incredible defensive display described by Paul Turner their head coach as "the best in my three years at the club".  They knew that if they tried to play with Bath that they would ship 30 points, and whilst their play was often illegal it is to their credit that they got away without more sanction from the referee. If Newport can defend like this at Toulouse perhaps they can deny them the bonus point. 

From a Bath perspective it was frustrating to see the game plan that has been so successful and threatening this season look relatively blunt, and one did get the sense that the bonus point earned in Toulouse has been effectively negated.  But a win is a win and with Toulouse's failure to collect a bonus point in Glasgow we are where we want to be after two rounds, but what today's match has shown is that this is not going to be an easy group, and Newport away is not going to be walk in the park.

The first team players can now rest for three weeks, knowing that the early part of the season has exceeded expectations after the key losses in the summer.  The injury to Claassens should not rule him out of any matches that he would have expected to play in, as the next two weeks will see Bemand and Baxter get some game time, and with Butch having a well deserved rest, Bath will be ready to attack the second phase of the season with confidence. 

My man of the match is Colin Charvis, because even at his age he was still everywhere, being a pain and showing his class.  Hats off to Newport, now please do us a favour and do that to Toulouse.

Bath                                                   13-9                            Newport Gwent Dragons

Try:  Higgins                                                                                    Penalties: Arlidge, Connor (2)

Penalties: James (2)

Conversion: James

Bath: Abendanon, Maddock, Crockett, Berne, Banahan, James, Claassens, Flatman, Mears, Stevens, Harrison, Short, Hooper, Lipman, Faamatuainu.
Replacements: Higgins for Banahan (63), Bemand for Claassens (37), Barnes for Flatman (49), Dixon for Mears (63), Scaysbrook for Harrison (63), Hape for Crockett (73) Bell for Stevens (78)

Dragons: Dollman, Wyatt, Sidey, Stcherbina, Fussell, Arlidge, W. Evans, Black, Willis, R. Thomas, A. Jones, Charteris, Bearman, Charvis, L. Evans.
Replacements: Smith for Sidey (68), Connor for Arlidge (68), R. Lewis for W. Evans (72), Hall for A. Jones (68), Webb for L. Evans (68). Not Used: S. Jones, Coundley.

Att: 10,600

Ref: C. Domasco (Italy).

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