By Glen Leat
November 13 2004

Bath consolidated fifth place in the League with a win over Sale Sharks at the Rec. This was a game where possession and territory was shared fairly equally but Bath made much better use of their chances and came out on top 27-13 and managed to prevent the visitors from scoring in the second half.

On a beautifully sunny, if somewhat cold, day perfectly made for enjoying a game of rugby at the Rec, a Bath side shorn of its international players played well to beat an under-strength Sale side. No doubt there will be arguments over the impact the loss of the international players had on this game but we all know that running a Premiership club these days is about strength in depth and on today's showing Bath have a deeper well to draw from than Sale.

I feel strongly that Premiership games should not clash with international games because I wanted to see the best of Bath play the best of Sale: not only is this because I want value for money from my season ticket but I also want my team to be tested to the limit as this makes the taste of victory so much sweeter. I wanted to see the likes of Jason Robinson, Mark Cueto and Charlie Hodgeson lock horns with Mike Tindall, Danny Grewcock and Steve Borthwick and if that meant we lost the game then so be it. I actually think Bath would have still won this game.

It was great to see Matt Perry return from injury and he immediately looked like he had never been away. A few cameo runs were complemented by good catching and a burst of speed we have not seen from the Bath lad for quite some time. There was one moment of concern for all home fans when Perry dashed forward between half-way and the Sale twenty-two only to meet a full-on brick wall tackle from his opposite number. Lips were chewed, breath was held for a few moments but Pezza jumped to his feet and trotted back to his place in the back-line. Well done mate, great to see you back. He left the park half way through the second half to a standing ovation.

Alex Crockett had a cracker of a game, not just because he scored a try but because he was everywhere in attack and defence. His linkage play within his back-line colleagues was superb and on several occasions he was able to intercept Sale passes thus preventing their attacking play from bearing fruit. Crockett is so clearly a centre rather than a winger one has to feel sorry for him when the team requires him to play out of position. For me Crockett was today's man of the match.

Bath got off to a great start with a try from James Scaysbrook. The young flanker was clearly out to impress the coaches, having gained a starting position following last week's injury to Andy Beattie, and this try will have helped his cause. Barkley followed up his missed conversion with a couple of penalties and Bath appeared to be running away with the game when Crockett grabbed a loose ball, following a lovely little Chris Malone chip-kick over the Sale defence, and ran in under the posts.

Bath then went to sleep and conceded 13 points. Firstly Mike Hercus scored a penalty, after having missed two easy kicks at goal, as Bath failed to catch a twenty-two drop out and then conceded a penalty on their own line-out. Then Chris Malone had a ponderous clearance kick charged down, leaving an easy run in for  Magnus Lund. Jonathan Humphries was sin binned and Hercus scored another penalty right on half-time. From a commanding position of 18 points clear, Bath found themselves suddenly under pressure.

Bath had to dig deep for the first quarter of the second half but their defence was up to the task and Sale could not break through. Three more Olly Barkley penalties made the game safe for Bath. Duncan Bell and Jonathan Humphries stayed on the pitch until coach Connelly was certain of victory but were replaced with what we thought were minutes to go. But that was assuming there wouldn't be 11 minutes of added time. Fortunately this extra, extra time didn't hurt Bath but, in different circumstances, this excessive overtime in a game not marred by many stoppages could have been devastating. Generally the rookie ref had a sound game but he needs to get himself a new watch from Santa in a few weeks.

Well done Bath a really good victory, let's now take this form up to Headingly next Friday.

Bath Rugby: 15 Matt Perry, 14 Brendon Daniel, 13 Alex Crockett, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Frikkie Welsh, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Nick Walshe, 1 David Barnes, 2 Jonathan Humphreys, 3 Duncan Bell, 4 James Hudson, 5 Rob Fidler, 6 James Scaysbrook, 7 Michael Lipman, 8 Zak Feaunati.

Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Christian Loader, 18 Dan Smith, 19 Geraint Lewis, 20 Joe Maddock, 21 Mike Baxter, 22 Spencer Davey.

Sale Sharks: 15 Robert Todd, 14 Chris Mayor, 13 Jos Baxendall 9, 12 Chris Rhys-Jones, 11 James Moore, 10 Mike Hercus, 9 Sililo Martens, 1 Stuart Turner, 2 Johnny Roddam, 3 Barry Stewart, 4 Christain Day, 5 Dean Schofield, 6 Chris Jones, 7 Magnus Lund, 8 Sebastein Chabel.

Replacements: 16 Martin Halsall, 17 Sebastein Bozzi, 18 Pierre Caillet, 19 John Carter, 20 Byron Redpath, 21 Byron Hayward, 22 Richard Wigglesworth.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (Twickenham)