14 Man Bath Tame TIgers

In the lead up to this match Leicester's veteran prop, Graham Rowntree, said that Bath had been lucky so far this season but with the return of the World Cup stars things would start to change. The Tiger's captain for the day, Rowntree, experienced the "Bath Luck" first hand as his side couldn't break down an amazing defence or the resolve of a team that said, "Go on beat us if you can!". Even with the likes of Kay, Johnson, Corry, West, White, Moody and Back all playing a part in this game, Dean Richards could only watch in frustration as his Leicester side were beaten for the first time by Bath at Welford Road in the professional era.

Leicester started strongly and after just 9 minutes they were building a comfortable platform through two Pez penalties. However Andrew Higgins soon struck for Bath with the only try of the game after 17 minutes. Mike Catt's expansive pass took out a defender and when Wylie Human passed back inside to Higgins the ex-Bristol centre had just three defenders to beat: fortunately one of them was Austin Healey so it was effectively two defenders who stood between Higgins and the try line and they failed to tackle the Bath man thus ensuring a score.

But then, in the space of a few moments mid-way through the first half, Bath's hopes of a league double over Leicester took a massive dent as first Martyn Wood became the second Bath player in two weeks to be red carded by referee Roy Maybank. Then Mike Catt limed out of the game with a hamstring strain to be replaced by Mike Tindall.

As with last week, when Bath were reduced to 14 men at the same stage in the game, the 7-man pack came in to their own not only winning a scrum against the head, as Martens pinched the ball at the feet of Corry, but also shoving the Tigers back: additionally the backs defending was something of which all can be proud with Mike Tindall continuing where he had left off against the Aussies. The Bath coaches had to make some emergency changes with Hentie Martens replacing Wood and James Scaysbrook having to make way for Martens. You have to have sympathy for Scaysbrook, he's been on the fringes all season but could not break in to a winning pack until Michael Lipman received a three week ban and when he gets his chance he's off because the referee claims Martyn Wood was stamping on an opponent.

Olly Barkley grabbed a 35 metre penalty kick some 8 minutes in to injury time to give Bath a 6 - 10 lead.

The roar went up at the start of the second half as Martin Johnson trotted out for his first game of the Premiership season. Given that Bath were down to 14 men, had lost Catt and had to re-jiggle the players to take account of the loss of the scrum-half, the Tigers' fans must have felt confident they could reverse the loss at the Rec earlier in this campaign. But like the Quins found out last week, this new Bath team has the spirit and commitment that saw their predecessors dog out tough games against the odds to win.

Leicester grabbed two penalties, one after 48 minutes and the other after 63 minutes to take the score to 12 - 10 in their favour but Olly Barkly slotted home a 46 metre penalty to grab the glory for his side. The final score could have been very different had Pez taken advantage of an 85th minute penalty but his accuracy was lacking just when his team needed it.

This was a massive win for Bath, not just in beating the old foe on their manor but also showing that when the odds are stacked against them they pull together and grind out a victory. A fantastic win for the visitors, it may not have been pretty but it was effective. Half way through the season Bath are 11 points clear!

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

Scorers

Leicester (6)12-13(10) Bath Tries: Higgins Cons: Barkley Pens: Pez 4 Pens: Barkley 2