However what Borthwick should have considered when the penalty was awarded was that Bath had totally destroyed the Newcastle lineout all afternoon (their throw-ins as well as our own) and our forwards were driving like a steam train so there was a strong chance we could have scored a try to grab the game at the death. But going through his mind will have been the advice received from the referee that there was still four minutes to go and a lot can happen in four minutes. Was he right, or was he wrong? You decide.

More importantly you have to question why the Bath backs did not get themselves in to a position to drop a goal: the last few minutes were played in the Newcastle half and a goal was definitely on the cards but Malone, Barkley and Wood never looked for this option - very disappointing.

In the first half the Bath defence was immence and held out a pumped up Newcastle side in which the home backs should have skinned the visiting defence on numerous occasions but still they could only go in at half time 9-9. But good defence was the only thing Bath fans could look at with any pride and it was fingertips clinging time throughout the first forty minutes.

The second half was a lot better for the visitors and when Chris Malone cut through the Newcastle defence twice in one phase of plays, eventually to set up Zac Fea'unati for a try, it looked as though Bath would pull away for their seventh win this season. Bath looked in total control after the try until Matt Perry's disappointing display was capped when he was caught on his own line by the Newcastle forwards who wrestled the ball free so Phil Dowson could dive under the pack to score an unlikely try.

There were a number of worrying issues to come out of this match for Bath: it took 50 minutes for Brendan Daniel to touch the ball, the front row was penalised twice in attacking positions for slowly engaging at the scrum and Martyn Wood's decision making still seems suspect. Wood is too ponderous at the base of scrums and rucks and spends too much time seeking penalties instead of pushing his team forward - sort it out mate because I'm getting mightily hacked off watching your increasingly accurate impersonation of Ian Sanders at his worst! 

A losing bonus point has ensured we are still five points clear at the top of the table.

Fortunately for Bath, Leicester lost again so a home victory is still the likely outcome next week.

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

Scorers

Newcastle (9)19-17(9) Bath Tries: Dowson Tries: Fea'unati Cons: Walder Pens: Walder 4 Pens: Barkley 4

Bath: Perry, Higgins, Crockett, Barkley, Daniel, Malone, Wood, Flatman, Humphreys, Bell, Borthwick, Fidler, Beattie, Lipman, Fea'unati.

Referee: Dave Pearson