Bath overcome the odds

Bath overcame an early sending off to secure a 18-16 victory over Gloucester.

Bath 18-16 Gloucester

Guinness Premiership, Recreation Ground, Saturday October 15, KO 14.45pm

Bath produced a simply heroic display to overcome all the odds to beat Gloucester 18-16 at the Recreation Ground.

John Connolly's men found themselves facing the steepest of uphill battles as they were reduced to 14 men in the first half, but - led by the magnificent Olly Barkley and Danny Grewcock - they managed to grab a deserved victory.

Under the watchful eye of England coach Andy Robinson, the England pair were outstanding as they drove their troops on after the dismissal of Andrew Higgins.

The game got off to a typically scrappy opening, as both sides strained every sinew to deny their opposition an inch of space.

Former Bath man Mike Tindall was given the traditional warm welcome on his return to the Recreation Ground, with scrum half Martyn Wood giving him a non-too-friendly shove to the ground early on.

The game's complexion began to change soon after, as Bath lost two men in the space of a minute.

First, Matt Perry suffered the consequences of his own superb try-saving challenge on John Goodridge, and then Higgins received the first of his two yellow cards for a high lunge on James Simpson-Daniel.

Gloucester immediately levelled the game at 3-3 from the resulting penalty, but then failed to press home their numerical advantage as Bath bullied them in the scrum when the visitors looked odds-on to score from five yards out.

The reintroduction of Higgins coincided with the best move of the first half as Bath shifted the ball wide to Barkley, and then recycled for Malone who made a half-break. Barkley's boot once again levelling the arrears from the resulting penalty.

John Connolly's men were then given a mountain to climb four minutes before the break, as the reckless Higgins was sent from the field of play for a crazy knee-high trip on Tindall.

A second half onslaught from Gloucester was expected, but the old Rec. was stunned into life at the start of the second period, as Chris Malone reminded everybody of his kicking talents with a marvellous 55-yard drop goal from inside his own half.

The 9,000-strong home support enveloped themselves in the siege mentality that their heroes would inevitably have to adopt, and Malone's effort brought a thunderous roar of encouragement from them.

A pumped-up Bath team soon forced a penalty, which Barkley gratefully dispatched as the home side began to hint at the completion of mission impossible.

Ten minutes in and the noise level moved up another notch, as Bath powered forward through Steve Borthwick and the mountainous Danny Grewcock, before earning another penalty, to move into a 15-6 lead.

The momentum was still was Bath and Barkley grew by the minute as he raced towards the Cherry-and-Whites' line.

The visitors seemed to be out of ideas until Rob Thirlby suddenly exploded through the hosts' defence to score a superb individual try in the corner with little over ten minutes remaining.

Ludovic Mercier converted from a tight angle, before adding a further penalty to give Dean Ryan's men a 16-15 advantage.

Bath were not prepared to lie down though, and back they came once more, finding another penalty - albeit on the halfway line - but the distance did not worry Barkley.

The Bath centre put all his effort into the crucial kick - straining a muscle as he managed to find an extra ten yards to give his side a decisive 18-16 lead.

Gloucester were stunned but they came fighting back - with Thirlby once again leading the charge.

The talented back raced down the left flank before releasing the ball 10 yards short of the line, only for Tom Cheeseman to produce a match-winning tackle as the whitewash came under threat.

Bath: (6) 18
Pens: Barkley 5
Drops: Malone

Gloucester: (6) 16
Tries: Thirlby
Cons: Mercier
Pens: Mercier 3