Red-hot Bath sink Quins
Bath made it five wins on the bounce in the Guinness Premiership with a 24-13 victory over Harlequins at the Rec.
Last Updated: 27/03/10 7:05pm
Bath continued their end-of-season revival, maintaining their push for Heineken Cup qualification in the process, with a 24-13 win over Harlequins.
Olly Barkley, Duncan Bell and Joe Maddock all crossed at the Rec to help the home team power their way to a fifth consecutive league win.
The only disappointment for Bath was their failure to secure a bonus point after Maddock had scored the team's third try as early as the 52nd minute.
Bath's last defeat in the Premiership came way back on December 5 away at high-flying Northampton.
High tackle
Centre Barkley, making his first appearance at the Rec since leaving for Gloucester two years ago, opened the scoring on four minutes with a crisply struck penalty from 50 metres out.
Bath continued to dominate both possession and territory and got their reward on 24 minutes when Barkley stepped inside a tackle to score by the posts. His conversion put Bath 10-0 ahead.
Home skipper Michael Claassens received a yellow card for a high and early tackle on David Strettle moments later and Nick Evans kicked the 35th-minute penalty to put Quins on the board.
The New Zealander could have reduced Bath's advantage to one point just after the break but was wide with the penalty attempt and once Claassens returned, Bath assumed control.
The 48th-minute try from prop Bell increased their advantage and the game was all-but won four minutes later when Maddock struck after Barkley and Nick Abendanon opened up the visitors' defence on the right.
Barkley's conversion from wide out gave his side a 24-6 lead which they maintained until just four minutes from the final whistle.
Replacement Tom Williams finished off a long-range counter-attack to get Quins a late consolation, number 10 Evans adding the conversion.
