By Nicola Curtis
March 5 2011

Bath left Kingsholm with no points and a seriously injured Olly Barkley after losing to Gloucester today.

The West Country derby between Bath and Gloucester hardly needs any talking up; along with Bath versus Leicester, it is a match that sends the heart racing.

And when both sides come into the clash in such a rich vein of form- Bath are now up to fourth, Gloucester third- both fans and players alike were chomping at the bit to let battle commence. Matt Banahan was released from England, so short was his time spent on the pitch against the French. After his display when playing for Bath against Northampton, Bath went into the match feeling, if not confident, then quietly expectant. Gloucester saw the return of prop Paul Doran-Jones, and with the power of all at Kingsholm behind them, were feeling positive of securing a victory against their old foe.

Some predictable boo’s rang out as Bath trotted on to the pitch and the away side initially seemed affected by them; despite a good catch from the kick off by Luke Watson, Bath were put on the back foot by an aggressive Gloucester attack and Bath were bundled into touch. Bath stole the lineout in the 22 though. A few minutes later, the ball found its way up the pitch, but Bath copied the Gloucester style, and lost the lineout. It was a busy start from both teams, but Gloucester were granted the first penalty as Ben Skirving was judged as being off his feet at the breakdown. Nicky Robinson drilled the ball between the posts, and Gloucester lead by three points to nil.

Banahan made a break up the midfield, characteristic of his breaks for Bath and England in recent weeks, but the move came to an end when he dropped the ball in the 22. Gloucester has a scrum just in front of the posts in the 22, David Flatman was pinged and the ball was kicked up the field.

The next five minutes saw steady attack and defence from both sides, resulting in something of a stalemate, albeit an entertaining one. A forward pass during a Gloucester attack resulted in a Bath scrum, but Flatman was penalised again, this time allowing Robinson a shot at goal, on the other side of the pitch to the first points scored. He missed, much to the chagrin of the Gloucester crowd.

The crowd erupted a few moments later though, after an audacious chip from scrum half Rory Lawson up the line was chased up by Henry Trinder, who slammed the ball down for a try. It was a tricky conversion, but Robinson nailed it.

The kick off from Butch James went straight out, and this mis-kick was treated with delight by nearly all at Kingsholm.  

A lineout in the 22 saw a quick, incisive Bath attack, with a cracking pass from James to Ben Williams, crossing three defenders. He threw the ball to Banahan, who had a relatively easy run in to score a try nearly under the posts. Olly Barkley had his first attempt at points with the conversion, which he duly scored. The point deficit was now three.

Gloucester had a chance to break back straight away, when Luke Narraway made a break up the line, but Jim Hamilton dropped the ball in front of a mile wide gap in the Bath defence in front of the try line. Williams kicked the ball away, but that really should have been a try for the home side.

Bath had a fair pit of the possession now, but were making simple errors such as forward passes and inaccurate kicking. A kick from Jack Cuthbert which went straight out allowed Gloucester an attack in the 22. The home side were given a penalty advantage in attack but did not have to use it, when Paul Doran-Jones got the ball down before Pieter Dixon could, and a try was scored. A tight kick from the touchline by Robinson was missed- not his best day with the boots at this stage-and the score was 15-7. An immediate penalty for Bath was curled in beautifully by Barkley and the score moved to 15-10, which was the score at half time.

Tom Biggs burst into action at the start of the half, having barely touched the ball in the first. A Bath attack sent the ball to the left wing, where Biggs threw off defenders as he raced up the touch line, and placed the ball down for a try. The score remained at 15 all when Barkley missed the conversion, bringing to an end his run of 17 successful kicks in a row. Gloucester had their chance to edge ahead straight away when Duncan Bell was penalised at a scrum. Robinson looked to have scored, but the ball bounced off the posts. Under a minute later, Robinson kicked again, after Danny Grewcock was penalised. This time, the three points were scored and the score was 18-15.

An outbreak of bad temper and handbags marred the next five minutes or so and a moment of calm only descended when Robinson stood looking at the posts, after Skirving was rather harshly penalised for not rolling away. It was a bit of a dodgy kick but he made it, stretching Gloucester’s lead to six points.

Gloucester clearly enjoyed being in front and from the break of a scrum a long way down the field set up a third try, this one scored by Tom Voyce. Banahan almost saved the try but the home side re-gathered, and despite a few slightly forward looking passes, the score was given. The conversion was missed.

Bath, playing too loosely at this stage, did build an attack which earned them a penalty after Narraway was pinged for offside. Bath turned down the three and chose to go for a lineout about ten metres away from the Gloucester line. Gloucester were penalised again, and Bath had an attacking scrum. It was a great chance for Bath, but a delayed pass from James was dropped by Barkley and Gloucester ran the ball away. Barkley was injured in this attack and looked to be in a lot of pain as he looked down at his leg. It looked like a bad break and he had to be treated with oxygen on the pitch- a horrible sign. He was stretchered off after being surrounded with a phalanx of medical staff and my heart sank to see him so upset. The TV showed just one replay of the incident and it was horrible; surely season ending for Olly, at least.

 

 

It was hard to concentrate with the rest of the game in all honesty, and it seemed as if it was the same for the Bath team. Gloucester were granted a penalty bang in front of the posts and Robinson converted. Out of the blue however, Ben Williams scored a try after Simon Taylor burst through from the base of a scrum. With Barkley off, James scored an extremely easy conversion.

Gloucester came back at Bath straight away, who had been within seven points, when Voyce ran into the corner and slammed down the ball. Voyce’s leg could have been in touch, but the try was given. This score meant Gloucester got five points because of four tries, and Bath got none, after throwing away the losing bonus point. The final score was 34-22.

It was a rough and passionate affair for most of the match, with a few moment of cool headedness from key playmakers which set up the tries. Bath seemed too panicky throughout most of the match and lost all shape towards the end. Improvement in the front five is needed if we are to have any chance of making the play offs.

With such a horrible injury to one of our most important players, the result hardly mattered. Bath were unlucky not to pick up one point and coming away from Kingsholm with no points and a seriously injured Olly Barkley, feels like a pretty dark day.