Bath hoped a W in the results column from last week and the first start for Luke Watson would give them a boost. Bath started brightly (despite a dodgy kick from Nick Abendanon- I love him but he needs to start kicking better) with an attempt at three points at the sticks. Cuthbert misjudged terribly and the ball went sailing wide. Bath shrugged off the miss and immediately attacked the Worcester twenty-two. A tennis style exchange of kicks- so boring- followed.  Bath seemed to be dominating play but a few missed tackles (when will Bath learn?) meant Worcester gained a great field position and continually disrupted the Bath line-out. Worcester won a penalty after Ryan Davies and Ben Williams were judged as offside right in front of the posts, giving Worcester three points.

A Miles Benjamin break sent Worcester almost to the 5m line to test Bath’s defence. A rolling maul was turned over by Bath in a fairly professional defence. A couple of scrums later and they were still in the same place. Referee Wayne Barnes penalised Aaron Jarvis and Willie Walker got another shot.  It hit the post and Worcester chased the fall of the ball, forcing Davis to clear quickly and he sliced the kick. The subsequent Warriors attack ended in a failed drop goal, letting Bath off the hook.

Worcester had definitely played the better, so Bath were lucky to win a penalty after a Worcester play didn’t roll away from the tackle. Davis put the three points on the board and Bath had to pick up their game to keep up with Worcester. We saw the sublime potential of Abendanon as he broke through the defence. Danny Grewcock somehow failed to score, going over the line but the ball was dislodged. A real chance missed.

Thankfully Bath kept at it, and a Ryan Davis cross-field kick was pushed out by Latham, but won a scrum 5m out. A deliberate knock on was penalised and Bath had another shot at goal. Ryan Davis stepped up to double Bath’s score.

But an infringement from new dad David Flatman was pinged by the ref and Walker stepped up for a penalty. But his usual accuracy deserted him, and as the half time whistle went, Bath would have run in marginally happier.

Another gorgeous break from Nick Abendanon nearly sent Matt Cararro over the line at the start of the second half. Worcester were penalised in their attempts at defence but Davis missed the kick. A Bath kicked charged down meant Worcester had a great shot at scoring a try and a drop goal, but both failed. Another penalty given by Julian Salvi meant the scores were levelled at six all.

At 50 minutes, the game was dull and more than a tad frustrating and it seemed clear why both teams were languishing at the foot of the league. There was enough effort to power the floodlights but some extremely brainless kicking. Davis took advantage of yet another penalty to nudge Bath ahead again. But straight away the Bath scrum was penalised. This was getting boring....Nine all.

Should I give up and watch Children in Need, I wondered? At least it would be more entertaining and only marginally less irritating. But I stuck with it and saw Davis kick another penalty.

Sam Tuitupou was sin-binned after a second shoulder charge in the air, this time on Stephenson, taking Worcester to 14 men. Bath needed to utilise this mismatch but once again seemed to lack the clinical nature they need to close matches out and take advantage when necessary. Worcester had a chance to level five minutes from the end as the sin-bin ended and Salvi was penalised. Willie Walker – of course- calmly kicked the three. Level again at 12 all.

A last Bath attack looked promising but when Hape knocked the ball on the game ended at 12 all.

Maybe I had looked forward to this match too much but I was really disappointed with the game as a whole, not just Bath’s play. Tonight was a game when I really felt Bath missed Butch James. Or Olly Barkley for that matter. Davies did well enough when kicking for three, but tactical kicking on the pitch was lacking. Tight games are always stressful and I certainly didn’t need that on a Friday night after a long week! Watson didn’t have the presence he did last week, and of the forwards I thought Ben Skirving was marginally the best, and we saw some nice hands from the former Saracen. Abendanon made a few mistakes as ever but he seems to have returned to his beautifully silky running lines when give a whisker of a chance.

We really needed a win, because this result means we stay at 11^th. There will be no confidence boost for Bath after this performance. Two points for each team is probably fair, but definitely dull.

Worcester: Latham; Garvey, Rasmussen, Tuitupou, Benjamin; Walker, Powell; C Black, Lutui, Taumoepeau, Rawlinson, Gillies, Wood, Sanderson, Horstmann.
Replacements: Gear for Garvey (55), Arr for Powell (64), A Black for C Black (68), Fortey for Lutui (68), Sourgens for Taumoepeau (68).
Not Used: Kitchener, Abbott, MacRae.

Sin Bin: Tuitupou (66).

Bath: Abendanon; Carraro, Hape, Williams, Cuthbert; Davis, Claassens; Flatman, Dixon, Jarvis, Short, Grewcock, Skirving, Salvi, Watson.
Replacements: Stephenson for Williams (57), Catt for Flatman (71), Mears for Dixon (60).
Not Used: Lilley, Hobson, Browne, Bemand, Roberts.

Att: 10,194

Ref: Wayne Barnes

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