LV= Cup: Harlequins beat Bath in a kicking contest at the Stoop
Ben Botica kicked five penalties as Harlequins claimed their second straight LV= Cup win with a 21-12 victory over Bath.
Last Updated: 16/11/12 10:18pm
The fly-half only played the first half but the 23-year-old son of former Wigan and Castleford rugby league star Frano Botica kicked five penalties from five attempts for Quins, 31-30 winners at Northampton last weekend.
Botica's teenage replacement Louis Grimoldby added two second-half penalties to kill off a fightback by Bath, who had been comprehensively outplayed in the first period.
Former All Blacks fly-half Stephen Donald kicked three penalties for the visitors, with his replacement Tom Heathcote kicking one.
But their cause was not helped by the sin-binning of prop Anthony Perinese in the first half and replacement hooker Brett Sharman in the second.
Harlequins, with first-choice centres Jordan Turner-Hall and George Lowe returning from knee and ankle injuries respectively, totally dominated the first half but lacked the cutting edge to score a try and had to rely on Botica's unerring boot.
In the second half, Bath sent on first-choice scrum-half Michael Claassens - making his 150th appearance for the club - for Chris Cook in a bid to turn their fortunes around.
Claasens immediately linked with Donald to set up an attack and Bath posed a far more serious threat as Quins lost their earlier momentum.
Heathcote, who had replaced Donald seven minutes earlier, cut the deficit to three points with a 65th-minute penalty but Grimoldby restored the six-point margin three minutes later and added another penalty eight minutes from time.
