By Glen Leat
March 22 2003

On Friday November 26th 1993 a second string Bath team took on London Scottish. I covered this match for the Bath Chronicle because reporter Alan Pearey was at Twickenham watching England. I have reproduced my match report to bring back a few memories as England play Scotland this week-end.

With barely ten minutes notice Mike Catt found himself facing London Scottish in place of the unlucky Andy Webber who was stuck in a traffic jam.

On such a cold and misty evening Catt could have been forgiven for thinking a couple of hours in the clubhouse were preferable to playing, but his appetite for the game soon overcame any reluctance. "It was a good win, I always enjoy playing with the younger boys. We stuck to our game plan and the moves came off." he said.

Plenty of early Bath pressure resulted in a Catt penalty, but within a minute Ronnie Eriksson scored for the exiles with their first attacking move. The first half was a dour, scrappy affair though the Bath pack gave notice of what was to come with several penetrating thrusts involving Nick Maslen, Dave Egerton and Gareth Adams.

Despite having the lion's share of the possession Bath had to wait until the 37th minute for a further score with Ian Sanders burrowing through a forest of legs to the line.

With the mist thickening into an eerie, swirling fog, West Stand spectators did well to spot the ghostly form of Martin Sparkes scoring in the right hand corner after six minutes of the second half. In fact many of us only knew Bath had scored when the players were seen tramping back to the half-way line. Radar accuracy ensured Catt kicked from the touchline but he admitted later that his lack of preparation was responsible for a series of misses. "I wasn't mentally prepared and I was getting tired towards the end." he said.

The Scottish pack, including a disappointed Damian Cronin,who was still feeling the after-effects of Scotland's crushing defeat by the All Blacks, made a few tentative probes into their opponents' half, but were soon getting worn down by the relentless pressure of the Bath forwards. "Bath showed tonight they still have great strength in depth. We held them to half-time but they clicked up a gear and the end result showed just what Bath are capable of." said Cronin.

Bath pressure was soon converted in to further tries for Sanders and Sparkes but the small crowd really found their voices when Catt belied any tiredness to sprint half the length of the pitch to score.

Steve Wichary kicked a late penalty to make the final score 35-8 and Scottish were ready for a hot bath before dashing off to catch their train home.

Bath
H Long, M Sparkes, Fox, R Stuart, M Lloyd, M Catt, I Sanders, D Crompton, Atkins, J Mallett, M Haag, A Reed, G Adams, D Egerton, N Maslen (Capt)

London Scottish
Appleson, Wichary, Harrold, Eriksson, Dingwall, Walker, Troop, Burnell, Mair, Hillicks, McKay, Cronin, Brown (capt), Leckie, Gray

Referee: Dave Sainsbury (London Society)

Estimated Attendance 700

If you have any memories of this game or the players why not share them on the messageboard.