By Glen Leat
September 24 2003

Matt Perry will have a late fitness test on Friday as Bath get ready to face the Sale Sharks in their new home at Edgeley Park and his availability is essential to a Bath back line that is looking decidedly thin with the loss of the in-form young centre Alex Crockett.

Seasoned Sale coaches Jim Mallinder and Steve Diamond will have been disappointed with their start to the season and few can have expected to be entering this game with the league table showing Bath in joint top spot and Sale in lowly ninth place. With a draw at at home to the Saints, who Bath comprehensively beat last week, and a narrow loss to Newcastle who lost their opening game of the season to Saracens, Sale need a win and the thought of facing the new Bath "heavyweight" pack will not offer up much comfort to keep the Sale fans warm on what is predicted to be a cold and wet Manchester evening. 

I am not a fan of these Friday evening matches because whilst it may be great for the home supporters, most travelling fans will either struggle or have to make special arrangements at work to get to the game. The new ground holds 10,541 and it was a very respectable 8105 who watched Sale draw with the Saints: if the game was on a Saturday afternoon (or even Sunday) one can't help feeling that they would be looking at a full house against the better supported clubs (and that includes us).

Excepting Alex Crockett, John Connolly will be hoping to keep the same side as last week, though with just four recovery days between matches he will have players nursing knocks and we can't be surprised if we lose another player or two. The new Bath front row of Bell, Humphreys and Flatman are already setting alarm bells ringing across the Premiership and with Fidler and Borthwick knitting together like repaired bone and the back row showing strength and pace the Bath backs can expect to see plenty of the ball. However Martyn Wood will want to raise his game after two disappointing performances to take the pressure of Chris Malone and Olly Barkley.

Malone's deep positioning may keep him safe from the "rush" but it does restrict the speed of Bath's back play and so Wood will want to give him sufficient confidence to creep towards the gain line as the game progresses. If there was one consistency that we could be proud of last season it was young Olly's goal kicking, unfortunately his form deserted him last week and no doubt he will have been practicing all week because Sale will not allow us to miss countless kicks and still win the match!

For those fortunate enough to make the trip up the north the game should be exciting to watch: for everyone else it will be either a dreary local radio commentary of an even worse internet commentary. Wherever you are enjoy it: Bath to win by 10!!!!!

Click on to the Sale Sharks site for their perspective on things.

Click here to read about the away encounter between Bath and Sale last season..

Click here to see the latest league table.

In preparation for this clash let's have a look at a few recent statistics:

Biggest Win

Last Meetings (Bath scores first)