By Sparkie
September 16 2002

Wasps' lacklustre last quarter play allowed Bath to strike back and share the spoils at the Rec. The home team made good a 15 point deficit by chasing a lost cause. Coasting to victory is not in our nature - "plus ça change," Wasps diehards will be muttering... When Dan Lyle evaded the attentions of Kenny Logan and Paul Sampson to stretch over in the corner it looked as if Bath had stolen the game in the final minute. It was left to Alex King save the day, marshalling a last-ditch drop goal from the restart to earn us a share of the spoils.

Wasps were guilty of ball watching as we squandered a winning advantage by kicking away possession. It seems we had forgotten the manner of Bath's last win on the road -- the match was redolent of our playoff defeat in May 2001.

Bath certainly recalled that stunning comeback. Stung into action by our third try, the hapless home side managed to raise their game to score 18 unanswered points. It looked to have sealed an unlikely comeback. However, miracle of miracles, right at the death we finally won a restart -- an equally unlikely event -- and Kinga executed a planned DG move perfectly from 42 metres.

Disappointingly, it is a case of three games played and as many as seven points squandered through a lack of discipline and tactical nous. "Lack" was the adjective that The Judge (aka Paul Rendall) used to describe our form a little under two years ago. Gats has got his work cut out to improve our fundamentals or we will continue to struggle against average teams.

The omens were ominous during the opening quarter: Logan pulled a long range penalty attempt and then promptly kicked a clearance out on the full. Chris Malone opened his account with a fifth minute penalty and Bath's front row was causing ours no end of trouble.

Trevor Leota's afternoon came to a premature end when a rampaging Alessio Golasso clashed heads. Sir Trev soldiered on for a short while but retired as our scrummaging continued to suffer. Malone and King exchanged penalty goals -- Bath's following a Nathan Thomas interception (thankfully he is no Contemponi) and ours courtesy of a trademark Rob Howley break.

The officials then spoiled the party by refusing Josh Lewsey's valid mark and then harshly dismissing Dan Lyle for ten minutes for attempting to turn over the ball legitimately at the tackle area. With a man over Logan spurned our first overlap by taking his eye off the ball when a try looked odds on.

We probed Bath's five metre line but first the referee mistakenly conjured up a knock on by Joe Worsley, then Lewsey did so in the corner following a charge down. Under pressure, Bath declined to clear the danger from their scrum five and though our own scrummage was stifled, King's crossfield chip caught Mike Catt at 14s and 15s in the opposite corner. Shane Roiser's leap wrested the ball to Lewsey who twisted over in goal.

Mike Tindall almost linked with Tom Voyce from the restart but Logan got a timely hand to the ball. Bath pressed once more but a telegraphed mispass was intercepted by Roiser on our 22. He evaded Catt's flap on halfway and had the presence of mind to pop the ball to Lewsey when his hamstring gave out just three metres shy of the line.

Our 17-6 half-time lead was needlessly reduced by another Malone penalty goal from our 22. Will we ever learn? Logan broke in midfield after a lineout but a multiphase move broke down through over-elaboration. Cooper surprised himself so much by throwing off his older shadow that he knocked on after a mazy run.

Wasps then had the game cold when Bath turned over the ball on their 10 metre line. Lawrence Dallaglio fed Howley who ghosted down the touchline before trying to link with Phil Greening. Thomas,N. took the flying hooker out and a penalty try was awarded.

A Paul Sampson tap-tackle on Danielli prevented an immediate riposte but a poor clearance straight to Bath's midfield and Tindall powered past our taught defence. Although Malone missed a pot at goal he reduced the deficit to five points as Bath ran everything. We continued to misfire and when Mark Denney's obvious crash ball yielded a penalty on halfway, Greening's charitable backchat gifted Malone another penalty goal.

Bath's grip tightened as we failed to secure any loose ball and what little possession we had we kicked away time and again. One last wayward kick found Catt swiftly linking with Tindall who put Dan Lyle clear beyond Logan's mistimed tackle. Malone failed to convert from the touchline. Worsley claimed the restart and King stepped belatedly into the limelight to work our second consecutive show stealer.

Let's look on the bright side, perhaps it is a case of seven points saved, after all. A year ago...

Related links: London Wasps RFC | Bath ERE on Sportnetwork