Bath Grateful For Win At Unlucky Rotherham

By Glen Leat
January 4 2004

Bath scored a last minute try to get a valuable bonus point as they beat bottom of the table Rotherham, 34-18. The scoreline flatters Bath as they were clinging on to a 20-18 win with two minutes to go after the home side had dominated possession and territory throughout most of the second half.

I'm getting a bit fed up with the comment that Bath must be good because we are still winning when not playing well, I want us to win and play well but for now I'll settle for winning. Played 14 and won 13 is not a bad statistic to start the new year and despite Rotherham causing a few flutters in the hearts of Bath supporters it's worth it. For those of you with teeth of a sufficient length to remember Bath in the eighties will know that this was common practice for the men in blue, black and white and it's only when one looks back through rose coloured specs that everything seemed so easy in our glory years. It was backs against the wall then and the same applies now - great omen eh!

John Connolly warned us before this game that Rotherham were not to be taken lightly and he was right. Bath generally bossed the first half but, after being shocked by a Rotherham try after just 30 seconds of the second half, the visitors were on the back foot from the 40th to the 78th minutes and it was only when Alex Crockett scored the third of our tries to provide sufficient daylight between the scores that Bath buttocks could be unclenched.

This was the biggest gate ever seen for a rugby match at Millmoor, perhaps having something to do with the William Webb Ellis Cup being paraded at half-time, and you have to admire a club that can attract over 6000 supporters having lost every game they have played this season. Bristol must dream about having such solid support, and in Rugby League country as well!

Bath scored the first points of the game with a standard Olly Barkley penalty. However if we were to think this was just another day at the "kicking" office for our young star we were sadly mistaken. Barkley managed to miss more penalties than he scored in this game, which must be something of a record this season.

Despite Coach Connolly's warning, Bath were twice caught napping and twice paid dearly with a home try. The first score came after just 12 minutes when Rotherham's 29 year-old former Welsh Number 8, Geraint Lewis, grabbed an opportunist try from a line-out. As the Bath forwards were setting themselves up for a standard line-out the Titan's threw the ball to Lewis and he chased up the line to score. Unfortunately for the home side their kicker, Jonathan Benson, signed from Leeds in the summer of 2002, missed and so they couldn't take full advantage of this clever play. However Benson made up for this five minutes later with a penalty which took the score to 8 - 3.

Barkley missed kickable penalties after 19 and 30 minutes and suddenly there was a worried look on the faces of Bath players and supporters: could the improbable happen and bottom of the table beat top? Fortunately for Bath Andy Long maintained his (Recreation Ground) line out form and managed to ensure he missed his jumpers on four occasions. Bath pounded the Rotherham line in the lead up to half time and just when the home side thought they would go in for their cup of tea in the lead up pops Olly Barkley to score Bath's first try of the game. If the lad doesn't do the business with the boot he'll score a try! To make matters worse for Rotherham, the referee played some six minutes of added time and in this bonus period up popped Zak Fea'unati to score Bath's second try and provide a half-time lead of 17 - 8.

Within 30 seconds of the re-start Rotherham caught Bath napping for the second time when Martyn Wood had his clearance kick charged down and McLeod-Henderson scooped up the rebound and trotted in to score. Shortly afterwards Andrew Higgins made a break upfield and was pulled down just short of scoring by Argentinian full-back Stortoni. Higgins once again looked sharp in attack for Bath. Rotherham continued to press the Bath defence and a break by Easterby and McLeod-Henderson nearly saw another score. This was exciting stuff for the home crowd and they cheered their team on believing an upset was on the cards.

There is no doubt that for most of the second half Bath were hanging on to their lead yet in the 78th and 88th minutes Alex Crockett and Wylie Human both scored tries to give the visitors a valuable bonus point and break the hearts of all Rotherham supporters.

Well done Rotherham, be proud of this performance: but for the extra time awarded in both halves this could have been a very different match with a very different scoreline. Phew!!!!!

This bonus points has stretched our lead over Wasps and the clash in a few weeks will be very exciting.

Scorers

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

Rotherham: Stortoni, Pieters, Pritchard, Umaga, Blackett, Benson, Easterby, Lloyd, Long, Olkers, van Zyl, Gross, Van Der Merwe, McLeod-Henderson, Lewis.
Replacements: Johnson, Dorsey, Kenworthy, Greeff, Rhodes, Jones, Jorgensen.

Bath: Human, A. Higgins, Maggs, Crockett, Dalzell, Barkley, Wood, Flatman, Humphreys, Bell, Borthwick, Grewcock, Beattie, Lipman, Fea'unati.
Replacements: Blake, Mears, Barnes, Knox, Gray, Scaysbrook, Fidler.

Referee: G Ashton-Jones (RFU).

Other Scores