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| Saturday 31 March 2001 | The Rec |
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Weather - Clear
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Referee: Nigel Yates..........................Match report:Russel Gibbs
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| A fourteen point haul from man of the match Matt Perry saw Bath revenge the early season defeat against Bristol and keep themselves on course for a second placed finish in the Zurich Premiership, although that particular fate may be out of their own hands. Bath, on the back of a nail bitingly tense victory over London Wasps, made four changes to the side that achieved that win. Iain Balshaw made a return to the wing, whilst Gareth Cooper was recalled at scrum half, preferred to Jon Preston. In the pack, Martin Haag was left on the bench to accommodate Mark Gabey and Gavin Thomas came in at flanker for namesake Nathan. Bristol were guided by their Argentinean half back partnership of Agustin Pichot and Felipe Contepomi and were also able to call the combative qualities of Garath Archer and Barry Williams up front. Both sides showed early intent to run the ball as kicking for position was left off of the agenda. Cooper was central to Bath’s early surge as the quickfire scrum half took every opportunity to run at the visitors defence. Pichot replied in kind as a fast paced match developed. It took only six minutes for tempers to boil over as Contepomi and Ben Clarke had an altercation in front of the Blackthorn stand. The fly half attempted to shove Clarke off the ball and received a left hook from the Bath captain for his troubles. Both players were sent to the sin bin by the over zealous referee, Nigel Yates. A worry for the home side was the lineout, usually a secure means of possession via Steve Borthwick, which was a shambles as Bristol dominated the set plays. Six times Mark Regan attempted to hit his man and six times Bristol, mainly due to the athletic prowess of Alex Brown, stole the ball. It was somewhat of a surprise therefore when Bath surged ahead in the fourteenth minute. Bristol took a drive deep into Bath territory, but crucially knocked on. The referee played a good advantage and Mike Catt was able to initiate a lightening fast counter attack. The mercurial fly half released Kevin Maggs on a bullocking run up the centre of the field, where the Irish centre found Cooper and Balshaw in support as Bristol were run ragged. Balshaw drew his man to find Regan outside and the hooker passed on to Tom Voyce who had a clear run to the corner to touchdown for his seventh try of the season and complete a superb move. Close to the touchline, Perry converted magnificently. Bristol hit back though within four minutes with a try, which owed much to some errors in the Bath defence. Sam Cox lost Catt’s poor pass and when Catt attempted to clear he succeeded in only hitting the ball against Eduardo Simone, the burly Bristol centre. Balshaw tried to hack the loose ball dead but mis-kicked and Contepomi gratefully fell on the ball to score a soft try. Contepomi easily added the conversion to level the scores. Bath struck back at the heart of the Bristol defence and created a half opening for Regan. Unfortunately, the hooker didn’t have the requisite pace and the chance was lost. Bath eventually won a lineout off their own throw on 28 minutes, before the visitors went in front for the first time. Bath were caught offside in midfield and from 20 metres out Contepomi made it 10-7. Not to be outdone Perry responded in kind and the half ended in similar fashion as the opposite kickers traded penalties to leave the scores level at the interval. Half Time: Bath Rugby 13 Bristol 13 Bath had a chance within two minutes of the re-start to re-take the lead, but Perry saw his 30-metre penalty drift agonisingly wide. It seemed a costly miss as Contepomi landed his third penalty of the afternoon barely minutes later to galvanise the visiting support, some of whom had walked the distance from Bristol to Bath in aid of charity. Trailing by three points, Bath needed some fresh impetus and it arrived in the shape of prop David Barnes who replaced the industrious Simon Emms. Almost immediately, Maggs burst up the middle and as Bath tried to recycle possession, Bristol killed the ball leaving Perry with a simple kick on the 22-metre line, in front of the posts, to tie the scores once more. It was tit for tat at this stage, but Bristol were given a glorious chance to create a match winning lead as Nigel Yates penalised Bath three times in quick succession for various offences. Contepomi, who had earlier kicked with real assurance, inexplicably lost his range and hooked all three long range kicks wide of the uprights, much to the relief of the majority of the capacity 8,200 crowd. The last effort was to prove to be decisive as Bath hit back with a vengeance. Andy Long and Nathan Thomas had been introduced to inject some fresh legs into the action and it seemed to work as the Bath pack gradually took control. So much so that they won a penalty 35 metres from goal – within range of Perry’s booming boot. The full back did not disappoint as he slotted over what was to prove to be the match winning kick. Bristol made some late changes to try and reverse the scoreline, but it was not to be and as Mike Catt’s late drop goal attempt went wide, the whistle sounded and Bath had recorded a hard fought four points. TEAM: Perry, Balshaw, Maggs, Cox, Voyce, Catt, Cooper, Emms (Barnes 50), Regan (Long 62), Mallett, Gabey, Borthwick, G. Thomas, Clarke (N. Thomas 59), Lyle POINTS: Tries: Tom Voyce Cons: Matt Perry Pens: Matt Perry (4) Bath Chronicle Man of the Match: Matt Perry Pitch: Very Good |
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