Bath ended their European campaign on a positive note as they defeated Glasgow Warriors 23-18 at the Rec.
Tries either side of half-time from Tom Biggs and Ben Skirving helped Bath to a narrow victory.
Glasgow took the lead in the third minute when Duncan Weir hit a penalty but their lead didn't last long, and by the end of the first quarter the visitors found themselves trailing by four points.
Bath gained the advantage on 12 minutes when Biggs intercepted a sloppy Glasgow pass on half-way and raced away to score. Olly Barkley added the conversion to make it 7-3 and though a second Weir penalty soon after reduced the hosts' lead to a point, Barkley's own penalty restored the four point cushion almost immediately.
Neither side troubled the scorers further before half-time, meaning Bath retained their narrow lead at the interval.
Bath extended their advantage minutes after the restart when a rolling maul laid the platform for Ben Skirving to touch down for a try which Barkley converted.
That left Glasgow needing points and they battled back admirably during the minutes that followed. On 54 minutes, Tommy Seymour crossed for the visitors' first try and ten minutes later they added a second, courtesy of Robert Harley, to take the lead. That made it 17-18 in favour of Glasgow but indiscipline would cost them the win.
Barkley was the man to kick Bath to victory, converting two penalties in the final ten minutes to seal a hard-fought win. Bath's unbeaten record at the Recreation Ground in 2012 continues, while Glasgow's hopes of maintaining an interest in Europe were shattered.
The scorers:
For Bath:
Tries: Biggs, Skriving
Con: Barkley 2
Pen: Barkley 3
For Glasgow:
Tries: Seymour, Harley
Con: Wight
Pen: Weir 2
Bath: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Matt Carraro, 13 Olly Barkley, 12 Matt Banahan, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Andrew Beattie, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 David Attwood, 3 David Wilson, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 Charlie Beech.
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 David Flatman, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Francois Louw, 20 Simon Taylor, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Sam Vesty.
Glasgow: 15 Rory Lamont, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Stuart Hogg, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Colin Shaw, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 John Barclay, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Al Kellock (capt), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Ed Kalman, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Jon Welsh.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Ryan Grant, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 Henry Pyrgos, 21 Ryan Wilson, 22 Peter Murchie, 23 Scott Wight.
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)
Assistant referees: Jean-Luc Rebollal (France), David Rosich (France)
Comments
melkdave says...
Imean no disrespect to the scotish clubs but to my mind they never ever threaten for silverware in the Hienken or Pro12 as it is now and they should be as both are packed with international players same as Munster and Lienster .Hell they very rarely even get 2nd in a Hienken group and mostly finish mid table in the league and given the amount of class of players they have thats bad and most probable why fan numbers keep dropping year in year out in scotland Budgets imo shouldnt have that massive an impact as apart from the odd player most teams are made up of national players anyway.To my mind Hienken cup qulifcation needs to be overhurald big time with only the top 6 from the PRO12 quilifying no matter their country .Then maybe the scotish teams will take it seriously apart from Munster and Leinster i dont think any do as it stands atm the scotish teams can finish 11th and 12 th and still qualify for the Hienken cup and thats laughable.Even this year i dont think a scotish team will be in the QFs of the Hienken cup
Posted 14:35 22nd January 2012
jamesliveinhope says...
I have to say I can't see past Leinster for this title and, to be in a group with them makes it very difficult to judge how well or poorly Bath are doing. Transition yes but there's some pretty good players in the bath squad and one would have hoped that they would have gelled by now. My problem is that we seem unable to put out a consistent nucleus of players at the moment and the inconsistency is creating disjointed perfomance. If this is deliberate, then I applaud Geech and Mr Craig for having the balls to abandon a season to getting a squad where all players have an understanding of one another. Unfortunately, the flipside is that Geech is making changes based on the last result which does nothing for the set up.
@melkdave, English clubs are suffering from the salary cap. You cannot expect to come up against clubs or provinces with the depth of the Irish or the French with anything other than a fit first choice 22 and expect to win them all. If the Welsh are watching the Irish, they'll figure it out soon and, unless the Premiership can find more money, we could see english clubs drop to 4th in the European pecking order.
Posted 11:01 22nd January 2012
provyd says...
Melkdave, Glasgow are also in a transitional period, which bodes well for 2013! By the way, in what way have Edinburgh flattered to deceive this year? They are top of their pool after five matches, with a budget considerably smaller than Leicester's. Glasgow have finished second in their pool, ahead of a French club and an English club.
Posted 19:12 21st January 2012
melkdave says...
Wwll a not unexpected result for me the scottish clubs always seem to flatter to decive I dont know whats happened to the english teams this year but hey do seem to have been playing well below their expected levals of performance in the Hienken cup .I suppose it couled be that alot of clubs are in transition atm with the exciting young talant breaking through in numbers if so it might bode well for 2013
Posted 16:10 21st January 2012