If having to endure several seasons of hell to secure a squad of this talent and commitment to the blue, black and white cause then it was worth it. It was worth the pain and shame of watching Bath players stumble and stutter their way through almost every game of the past two years. It was worth the cost of expensive season tickets and away travel knowing that Bath were likely to get beaten and beaten badly. It was worth having to try and retain faith in Jack Rowell when he told us to be patient as he scoured the world for a new squad: many of us had our faith in Jack severely tested but we should have known better.

John Connolly told Sky TV this week  that coaches are given too much credit when the team does well and too much flack when they struggle. Yet if you listen to the Aussies who played for Knuckles they will tell you he does make a difference and, as has been said in recent weeks, Connolly could prove to be Jack's best signing of the season. Another person we shouldn't forget at this time is Andrew Brownsword, the man without whom Bath Rugby couldn't have brought the new players and Connolly to the Rec. Our millionaire backer has taken quite a bit of stick in recent times and I hope he can sit at home tonight quietly enjoying the success of "his" team.

The game was delayed by 15 minutes because of traffic problems outside the ground but Bath didn't delay their intentions as Chris Malone hoofed a mighty up and under towards Tom Voyce which put the Wasps full-back under tremendous pressure after just three minutes - as much from the sun in his eyes as the chasing Bath players. Unfortunately for Voyce the sun put in a marvellous tackle and he dropped the ball in front of Matt Perry who set up the move that saw Brendan Daniel slide in for the opening score of the game.

Within a few minutes Wasps were twice on the scoreboard as Bath gave away the first of numerous penalties. The first resulted in a van Gisbergen kick and the second saw Simon Shaw stretch his long arms over the line to put Wasps in the lead. Indiscipline could have cost Bath dear today: not only did it give Wasps four scoring penalties but it gave them line clearing penalties when Bath were pressurizing the home try line. The Bath coaches will be working on this in training no doubt because it will be a crying shame if this weakness in our game costs us victories and Premiership points.

Another area of weakness the coaches must review is the slow decision making of both Humphreys and Wood at the line outs and scrums. The Bath skipper was penalised three times for a slow throw-in to the line-out and on the final occasion his frustration with the referee cost him a yellow card and meant Bath were a man short at a crucial part of the game.  I don't normally support referees when they penalise Bath beacuse I'm as one-eyed as the next supporter but I think Robin Goodliffe was exactly right in his decisions against Humphreys and our hooker needs to sort this out! 

Similarly Martyn Wood seemed ponderous at his put-ins to the scrum and he is still slow to get to the breakdown in our phases. He is also getting too mouthy with the referees and he should know by now that there is only one player in this league who can successfully referee a match and he was absent from the Wasps team today as he prepares for the World Cup down under. You may have learnt at the master's knee Martyn, but I suggest you get on with perfecting your part in the game and let the referee get on with his!

Bath re-gained the lead thanks to a second Brendan Daniel try. Again Chris Malone started the move with another hoof up field which hit the Wasps' posts. Michael LIpman ran like a hare to get the rebounding ball but just missed and Wasps could not clear their lines and Matt Perry and Jon Humphreys set up Daniel for his score. A late penalty saw Wasps close the gap to 13-14 at half time.

Wasps opened the second half with an early penalty and 15 minutes later appeared to be stretching away as van Gisbergen slotted home another penalty after Martyn Wood was penalised for grabbing Paul Volley when he didn't have the ball. Bath soon had chances to get back in to the match but Barkley missed a very kickable penalty and Daniel was pulled up just short of his hat-trick try after Jamie Williams ran through the Wasps defence like a hot knife through butter to set up Daniel. Fortunately for Bath Peter Scrivener fouled Steve Borthwick in a line out and Barkley made the score 19-17 with ten minutes to go. Bath then piled on the pressure and played phase after phase in the Wasps' "red zone" but the home side repelled all efforts until try scorer, Simon Shaw, was penalised for stopping Wood from passing the ball under the posts. Poor old Shaw, he'd played his heart out for Wasps all afternoon and knew his one moment of madness had cost his side the game.

Barkley made the score 19-20 and the Bath supporters held their collective breath until Robin Goodliffe blew the final whistle. Four wins on the trot and three of them away from home, when will the wheels come careering off this magnificent bandwagon?

This was a performance of which every Bath player can be proud, another home victory next week against pointless Rotherham and we will be five from five and in something like rugby heaven!

Let's have a look at the latest league table.

Scorers

Wasps: Voyce, Roiser, Waters, Erinle, Rudd, van Gisbergen, Howley, Payne, Leota, Dowd, Shaw, Birkett, Clarke, Volley, Hart.
Replacements: Richards, Gotting, Denney, Haskell, Skivington, Scrivener, Mackenzie.

Bath: Perry, Best, Williams, Barkley, Daniel, Malone, Wood, Flatman, Humphreys, Bell, Borthwick, Fidler, Beattie, Lipman, Fea'unati.
Replacements: Martens, Mears, Stevens, Kydd, Brasher, Scaysbrook, Gray.

Referee: Rob Goodliffe