LV= Cup: Semesa Rokoduguni scores two tries as Bath beat Dragons 36-15
Fijian winger Semesa Rokoduguni scored two tries as Bath beat Newport Gwent Dragons 36-15 in the LV= Cup.
Last Updated: 11/11/12 3:30pm
It was Heathcote who opened the scoring with a 50-metre penalty early on, but the Dragons responded almost immediately with the opening try left wing Ross Wardle taking a pass from full-back Hallam Amos to score - Steffan Jones added the conversion.
Rokoduguni was quickly in on the action and was on hand after Heathcote's break up the middle to touch down for the first time, the fly-half then slotted the conversion to give the home side a 10-7 lead.
A sequence of penalties for the respective fly-halves saw Bath stretch their lead to 16-10 as the teams continued to play at pace, but Bath gave themselves breathing space as Heathcote kicked two more before the break - the second awarded for a late and high tackle on the Bath number 10 by Dragons lock Ian Nimmo, who was sin-binned.
Bath wasted no time after the break in making the numerical advantage count, a multi-phase attack ended in Matt Banahan scoring under the posts after a pop-pass by Josh Ovens - Heathcote again converted.
Newport did manage to build a platform near the Bath line only for hooker Hugh Gustafson's to produce a crooked throw from a line-out and, after keeping up the pressure, they were unfortunate when Wardle saw a try chalked off after putting a foot in touch.
The line-out continued to be a problem area for the visitors as skipper Jevon Groves was yellow-carded for taking out the Bath jumper, Ovens. It was just one of a string of penalties conceded as the Welsh side resorted to desperate defence.
The inevitable third try came on 72 minutes when Rokoduguni timed his run perfectly to take Heathcote's pass and score under the posts.
Heathcote converted, but the Dragons roused themselves to create one final unconverted try for replacement wing Dan Evans.
