Glasgow started this match brightly, taking Bath by surprise. Just six minutes had been played when Tom Evans, who was awarded the Man of the Match, found a gaping hole in Bath's defence and ran through under the posts. A successful conversion meant Bath were seven points down. Glasgow continued to be sharp and fast, but over-enthusiasm on their part meant that a high tackle was spotted on Tom Cheeseman, and Butch James duly kicked the points. Some good runs from Nick Abendanon were utterly wasted by his inability to pass to his supporting runners. I normally wouldn't say a single word against Bendy, but he had a bit of a shocker today - great lines of running but too often limited end result!
After 30 minutes, Glasgow had scored a try and missed a penalty, and Bath had scored only three points. A point every 10 minutes was simply not good enough, and Bath were lucky when a James chip found its way through the feet of Glasgow 's defence to set up an attacking scrum. The melee that followed was stopped whilst Alain Rolland went to the TMO, who judged that Andy Beattie had scored a try. The conversion was missed, and Bath 's temporary concentration disappeared, and Evans used the blindside to find a huge gap and score his second try. The conversion was missed, and soon after James slotted through a penalty, creating a half-time score of 11-14, a score that flattered Bath .

Either Steve Meehan or captain Michael Lipman must have given Bath a good talking to during the break, as Bath came out playing with much more positive intent. Matt Banahan made use of the sun, blinding Glasgow, to power through their defensive line. Michael Stephenson went over the line to score the try. James converted, and he deserves a mention for his lovely kicking at the posts today. He added a further three points through a penalty.
Stephenson then cancelled out his try after he failed to deal with a kick down-field by Glasgow , and he allowed Evans to go over the line for his third try. The conversion was missed which meant Bath still held a rather tentative lead. Stephenson did all he could to make up for his mistake, and set up some nice phases of play, and then went over the line after a gap opened up for him. Bath were 28-19 up. Bath's best phase of play carried on with a great take from Beattie (who had a really good game) and a run from the twenty-two by Abendanon, Banahan and finally finished off by Berne, who made a real difference when he came on for Cheeseman at half time. This try was converted and Bath had a 16 point lead.
As happens far too often, Bath went to sleep at this point, and two fairly disastrous tries were scored, one of which came from an interception pass from Abendanon. Bath were just four points away from going out of the European Cup.

With a few minutes to go, Bath slowed the game down and slowly pounded the Glasgow line. With about 10 seconds to go, I was ready to breathe a sigh of relief, when somehow or other the ball was kicked down field, sending Abendanon sprinting across to cover and prevent Glasgow nicking the win. He managed to bundle the Glasgow player out, and Rolland blew the whistle.
This was a rather strange game. Utterly thrilling in parts and immensely annoying in others. There were flashes of brilliance from both sides, but much of the play from Bath was really immature and the gaps in the defence loomed large. However, when a match is over, what really matters is the result, and in this case the result favoured Bath . My heart was hammering at the end, and after all, this sort of thing reminds you that you're alive! Try to think about the exquisite score from Berne , rather than the excruciatingly painful interception pass thrown by Nick Abendanon, and you'll be happy.
|
Bath: Abendanon; Stephenson, Cheeseman, Fuimaono-Sapolu, Banahan; James, Claassens; Flatman, Dixon, Stevens, Hooper, Grewcock, Beattie, Lipman, Browne.
Replacements: Higgins for Stephenson (59), Berne for Cheeseman (41), Bemand for Claassens (67), Mears for Dixon (56), Jarvis for Stevens (72), Harrison for Short (56), Faamatuainu for Browne (56).
Glasgow: Stortoni; Faatau, M Evans, Henderson, T Evans; Jackson, Gregor; Tckachuk, Hall, Kalman, Barker, Kellock, Brown, Barclay, Beattie.
Replacements: O'Hare for T. Evans (67), Pinder for Gregor (60), Milligan for Hall (64), Low for Kalman (41), Turner for Kellock (58), Vernon for Beattie (64).
Not Used: Nunez Piossek.
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Bookmark or share this story with: