On this day of Remembrance it's a shame this was a game to forget, with Bath doing everything they could to hang on to a Saracens' side that must be kicking themselves over their lost opportunities. We have to treat this as a moral victory and take the two points gratefully as this could so easily have been another loss.

One clear try-scoring chance for the visitors stands out for me late in the first half as the Saracens' forwards sucked the Bath defence across the right hand side of the pitch to leave their left flank seriously exposed. The ball then flashed out wide for what most assumed would be an easy overlap and in for the score. Unfortunately for the visitors, the ball was thrown behind winger Paul Baily just as he must have been practicing a victory dance in his mind. This just about summed up the game and I do feel sorry for my mate at work who chose this match for his one visit a year to the Rec - £30 well spent eh Dave?

It was good to welcome Alex Crockett back in to the fold after his long injury related absence and the lad looked sharp for much of the game, trying to inject some fizz in to a backline that struggled to make any sort of dent in the Saracens defence. Similarly Michael Stephenson looked energetic and hungry for the ball on his first team debut, unfortunately it didn't find its way to him very often. Perhaps that's because we see too many forwards in the backs, getting in the way of the lads with real pace who might just be able to make a break-through. Fortunately for Bath, Stephenson had suffered enough without the ball and with 10 minutes to go he drifted in-field, grabbed the ball and dropped a goal of which Molly would have been proud. Taking the score to 12-9 Bath desperately tried to hang on for an unlikely victory. But most spectators knew it was only a matter of time before Sarries gained another kickable penalty and with Glen Jackson in charge of the kicking tee a score is always likely.

Andy Dunne struggled to make any sort of impact at fly-half and it didn't help his game losing first choice scrum-half, Nick Walshe, through injury after some 20 minutes. Despite Dunne's unsuccessful attempts at driving his team forward at least he was trying to make things happen. Unfortunately his kicks more often found a loving pair of Londoner's hands rather than the warm embrace of the touchline and his passing too often looked to be on the fringes of an interception opportunity. 

Besty and Maddock tried to counter attack and Andrew Higgins looked ferocious at times but it just wasn't going to happen today. It was clear after the opening quarter that this was going to be a game Bath could easily lose and, after last week's capitulation to Catty and his mates, we have to credit the Bath team with their ability to hang on in adversity. It didn't help losing Fids to the bin but seeing a Bath pack of seven shove a Sarries eight gave me heart. 

Despite the dullness of the game there was some off-field activities that caught my eye. Firstly the "Countdown Clock". (Da, da, da, da da da da da da!! Won't be the same without Twice Nightly will it?) Hey how exciting is that? Clearly Ashley Rowden wanted to see how easily it would break on its first outing at The Rec: stop, start, stop, start etc! I thought I was watching Coochie Coo gliding around the Tower Ballroom at Blackpool - slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. Though to be fair there were more "slows" than "quicks" in this particular rugby waltz.

But if you thought the clock was exciting how about the Saracens' bikes in their dug-out(sic) area? The substitutes had to spend time on the bikes as they waited to play, which is bad enough, but what about the poor sods who had to have a peddle after they were taken off? Tevita Vaikona was on the bike for so long before he joined the game I calculated he'd cycled to Bristol and back before touching a ball! I'm sweating just thinking about it.

The weather was back to a nippy November chill and, without fail, it brought the micro-bladders out in force. Nice one lads, you gave me more entertainment this afternoon than the players.

Wasps next week - gulp!

Referee: Ashley Rowden

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