One could almost hear the tick-tock of the official time-piece as it clicked its way, second by second, towards 100 minutes and the dreaded shoot-out. But, after 98 minutes and 18 seconds, scrum-half turned winger, Andy Williams, slid across the Glawster whitewash with the ball lodged somewhere between his neck and shoulder to take Bath Rugby to Twickenham to play Leeds Tykes in the Cup Final. After a see-saw match between these two great West Country foes Bath once again proved that they can travel to Kingsholm and grab the spoils from under the noses of the partisan Shed community.

Williams created his try with an opportunistic hack of the ball towards the try line from outside the Glawster twenty-two; it was then a foot race between the young Welshman and Glawster full-back Jon Goodridge. 

This was one of those Chariots of Fire moments as time slows and and the orchestra gets ready to highlight the moment of triumph. But first there is silence as two sportsmen charge forward in a world inhabited by no one else. Changing camera angles, thudding boots on a muddy pitch, droplets of sweat dripping from nose and chin:  nothing else matters except reaching the ball first to score or save a try. Thankfully for Bath it was Williams who won the foot race.

Bath ran on to the pitch at the start of the game to be greeted by a cacophony of boos from the Shed, it would be disappointing if it was any other way! No doubt skipper Borthwick had told his charges to draw inspiration from the Shed and ram their boos right down their throats. A team can easily be overwhelmed by the Kingsholm atmosphere yet, on the performance of both teams, it appeared the home team were the most intimidated. They have so much to live up to and can expect a verbal mauling when they fail. 

Nerves certainly appeared to get to Henry Paul as he scuffed his first simple shot at goal to try and draw level with an early Bath penalty from Chris Malone after the Bath fly-half had been pole-axed by Andy Hazel after less than two minutes. This was a great settler for both Bath and Malone and demonstrated a certain naivety from the Glawster flanker. These are games for cool heads and it was the visitors who appeared to have donned the ice-buckets as training helmets prior to kick-off.

Fortunately for Paul, he soon had another attempt at goal, after Danny Grewcock was adjudged to have played the ball off the floor at a ruck when replays will show that the ball just flipped up as part of play. 

3-3 soon changed to 3-6 when Andy Gomarsall was blinded by the sun and dropped Malone's re-start kick. Normally this would be a simple scrum but Glawster were unlucky as the ball ricocheted off their retreating forwards to turn a knock-on in to offside. But the home team were again on level terms within a matter of minutes after Bath too were caught offside in front of their posts.

Bath broke the penalty trade-off deadlock after 18 minutes with a try from Joe Maddock. Gomarsall kicked aimlessly out of his twenty-two and the ball was taken forward on the counter-attack by Matt Perry. Geraint Lewis took up the charge and off-loaded to Maddock who ran for the line. Malone's touchline conversion took the score to 6-13. Within 3 minutes Paul reduced the deficit with another penalty but missed another straightforward chance 10 minutes later.

Bath should havce scored a second try after 34 minutes but Glawster hooker, Curnier, deliberately knocked the ball forward as it was heading for Lee Mears right on the Glawster goal line. A yellow card for Curnier and kicked penalty was scant recompense for a missed scoring opportunity that would have put daylight between the two teams. To make matters worse Matt Stevens was binned a few minutes later for not rolling away from a ruck some 30 metres from the Bath line. If Stevens deserved a yellow card then Bath should have received a penalty try for Curnier's cynical action.

A half time score of 12-16 probably suited both teams.

Glawster came out for the second period like men possessed - probably having been spooked by Dean Ryan! Within a minute they forced Bath to concede a penalty in front of their posts but Henry Paul's simple kick hit the post and was (just) cleared by the Bath defence. A real let off!!

The Bath pack were once again immense, to see a seven man Bath pack shove an eight man Glawster pack was a joy to behold. The line-outs were disjointed for both teams but Bath appeared to nick this area of the game as well. I was disappointed with Nick Walshe today. He seemed off the pace and was often caught away from the break-downs with Bath losing possession several times because there was no scrum-half in position. This was a game requiring gallons of energy, as could be seen from the cramp during extra time,  however the scrum half-has to be the fittest bloke on the park and Walshe appeared to be lacking in this department.

Similarly Olly Barkley was absent for much of the game though his partner, Andy Higgins was brilliant. How can such a small guy break so many big tackles? Matt Perry played a good old fashioned solid game at full-back: not something we see very often in modern rugby.

Glawster finally took advantage of their greater territory and possession throughout the second half with a try from Kiole after 59 minutes. Just as Gomarsall had set up Maddock's try in the first half, Malone kicked the ball down Garvey's throat and he set up James Simpson-Daniel to turn the Bath defence inside-out before feeding Kiole who ran in for a simple try. A penalty from Malone after 65 minutes set up a final score of 19-19 to ensure the need for extra time.

Judging by the second half of normal time Glawster should have been favourites for the extra period but they appeared to be like rabbits caught in the headlights of a big old blue, black and white car. The home team hardly touched the ball throughout extra time and their hearts must have stopped beating in their chests as Chris Malone hoofed a massive drop goal attempt only to see it hit the edge of the Glawster post.

Despite their control of extra time Bath couldn't score, until Andy Williams stepped up and snatched his place in Bath Rugby history.

Well done Bath, Twickenham here we come!

Glawster: Goodridge, Garvey, Simpson-Daniel, Fanolua, Kiole, Paul, Gomarsall, Wood, Curnier, Powell, Eustace, Brown, Buxton, Hazell, Balding.
Replacements: Sigley for Wood (80), Cornwell for Hazell (90), Boer for Balding (24).
Not Used: Azam, Page, B. Davies, Morgan.

Bath: Perry, A. Williams, Higgins, Barkley, Maddock, Malone, Walshe, Stevens, Mears, Bell, Borthwick, Grewcock, Lewis, Scaysbrook, Fea'unati.
Replacements: Booth for Maddock (80), Wood for Walshe (90), Barnes for Bell (87), Delve for Lewis (71).
Not Used: Humphreys, Fidler, Davis.

Referee: Ashley Rowden

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