This Bath Rugby team is renowned for getting off to a quick start in games and scoring tries in the opening quarter. A second minute Butch James penalty gave the start the home side wanted after they attacked the Falcons' line with pace and aggression, clearly looking to drive their experience at Saracens out of their system. However instead of building on this early lead by crossing the Newcastle goal-line it was the visitors who were first to score a touchdown through Tim Visser. This followed a missed penalty by Tom May when Bath were penalised for entering a ruck from the side.

Visser's try was symptomatic of Bath in recent weeks, good play followed by errors and being punished for those errors. Shaun Berne, who I thought played exceptionally well today, snatched the ball from the hands of Jamie Noon in midfield but as soon as the Aussie tried to run out of defence the ball was, in turn, snatched from his possession by Tane Tu'ipulotu who set up Visser to score in the far corner.

Despite running and passing well in the opening quarter, Bath looked edgy at times and surprisingly lost their first two line-outs: one by being beaten to the ball and the other through a knock-on. Newcastle were on a roll after winning recent games and their confidence showed. They matched Bath, pass for pass and run for run, in the early phases and the Rec faithful knew this would be no easy victory.

The usual suspects in the crowd criticised the referee for almost everything he did yet, for all his faults he managed to award Bath four penalties between the 16th and 35th minutes, all of which Butch James slotted home. Our No10 (as Brian Clough would have called him) looked perfectly balanced with his kicking and if he could replicate this standard every week no one would ever talk about the need for another kicker joining the squad.

Throughout his game Butch James played more conservatively, still managing a couple of beautifully weighted punts to set up attacks, and I'm sure this contributed to Bath's win. Throughout the team there was less kicking, which meant we kept the ball for longer, and it was some 20 minutes in to the game before a Bath player hoofed the ball forward. The only bit of recklessness attributed to James saw him sin-binned in the second half after he tackled(sic) without use of his arms on the hour mark. Again there were howls of derision towards the referee as our hero trudged off to the naughty chair but, from my position almost level with the incident, I thought the official got it right. 

The problem for Butch is he has a reputation for tackling this way and if a referee has a decision to make he'll more often than not call it against the Bath man. It's up to Butch to give the officials no opportunity to penalise him for this offence. He marked the referee's card in this game midway through the first half when he hoofed a high ball towards the Newcastle Twenty-two and nudged the forlorn full-back as he tried to regain his dropped catch attempt. Personally I thought this was harsh on James as surely he had every right to get the loose ball and the fact that the defender was in his way was immaterial.

Bath's first try came just before half-time when Alex Crockett broke from defence, fed Rob Hawkins who chased forward well in to the Falcon's half before perfectly off-loading to Joe Maddock and all the little Kiwi had to do was run in to score. The crowd went wild, not just for the score but also for the style of play. I ask you, is there anything more exciting to watch in our game than players running together at top speed to score a try?

Rob Hawkins has come in to his own in recent weeks and it's amazing to think we have such a talented hooker as our third string. Hawkins plays like an extra flanker and although he sometimes misses his final pass, as he did on one occasion last week and this, it's because he's trying to make things happen. Not for Rob is it best to play safe as this may sneak him up the pecking order, no he's playing as much on the edge as everyone else and keeping to the playing ethos that is currently in vogue at Bath. Well done Rob!

Tom May missed a late penalty to see the teams break at 22-7 in favour of the home side.

Newcastle started the second period as Bath had the first and within three minutes they'd scored 10 points. A penalty for Tom May was followed up by a try by Brent Wilson after the Bath tacking was woeful. A look of dread started to spread around the ground as everyone started to think, "Oh no, not the second half blues once again!".

Andy Beattie calmed beating hearts with his try after 57 minutes. This followed a lovely reverse clearance kick by Butch James which forced Newcastle to find touch deep in their Twenty-two. A Bath scrum was awarded after the lineout and Beattie sneaked down the blind side to score. A marvellous touchline kick from Butch stretched Bath's lead to 12.

Three minutes later and James was carded and May scored the resulting penalty. Bath continued to attack despite being a man down and, just before Butch was due to return, Joe Maddock picked up a loose ball after Newcastle lost possession deep in their half and the league's top try scorer ran over to celebrate his brace. Shaun Berne converted.

Bath introduced their bench to the field and this inevitably disrupted their play. Andrew Fenby took advantage of the lack of cohesion in the Bath defence to score what was (thankfully) a consolation try in the closing moments of the game.

This was a good win for Bath and I hope it will give the players confidence. I thought Bendy had his best game this season and our scrum looked particularly strong. Michael Lipman belied the fact he had been out for a few weeks with a head injury by ( as always) laying his body on the line for his team.

I am worried about Banahan, he doesn't look the player he was last season. Whilst other teams may have "worked him out" I think he looks sluggish and predictable and if Andrew Higgins is fit I'd play him ahead of the big man.

Referee: Andrew Small

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