"Never Say Die!" Say Bath At Leeds
By Glen Leat
November 20 2004
By 'eck what a cracking result! With moments to go it looked like the best Bath could get was a losing bonus point when up popped the Malone/Barkley try-scoring combination for the second time in the game and suddenly it was 28-28 with a kick in front of the posts to win the match at the death...
A totally calm Chris Malone slotted home the kick, the whistle blew and Jonathan Humphries was whooping and jumping for joy - 28-30. This was a close run, hard fought game and the trip home will have been a joyous one for players, coaches and supporters alike. I predict Mikes will have had to sink a few beers to steady his nerves after such a close finish, medical reasons only of course!
This game started in as crazy a fashion as it ended with referee, Sean Davey, sin binning Leeds flanker Dan Hyde in the first minute of the game. I have to say I thought the decision was somewhat harsh: alright so Hyde was right to be penalised after coming in from the side of a ruck and letting fly with his fists, but a yellow card for the first offence of the game? A new ref wanting to show the players and the RFU that he's a tough character not to be messed with, just letting his mum know he's on the telly or he got it wrong? You decide. Davey was whistle-happy throughout the first half but someone must have changed his pea at half-time as he was much quieter throughout the second half.
Olly Barkley missed the penalty arising from Hyde's Jeckalesque activity but within a few moments Bath had scored their first try. Rob Fidler being the beneficiary after James Hudson had taken a nice line-out catch and fed his colleague who was shoved over the line by a Bath pack now outweighing Leeds thanks to Hyde's absence.
Two Leeds' penalties got them back to 6-7 but Bath pulled away again with a penalty of their own, taking the score to 6-10 and this should have been extended to 6-13 when Olly Barkley was shoved by Tim Stimpson as he went for a Malone "up and under" beautifully flighted on the edge of the Leeds' twenty-two. The home crowd were unhappy with the penalty and booed loudly enough to distract Barkley and he fluffed his lines.
Bath kept the lead until the half-hour when Leeds finished off a constant pounding of the Bath line with a stretched arm try from centre Chris Bell. This was well deserved as the home side had started to take control of the game and were certainly the masters in terms of possession. 13-10 at half-time was about right.
Bath hit their straps very quickly in the second half and were 13-20 ahead within five minutes of the referee blowing his (quieter) whistle. Malone fed Barkley for the first of the young centre's tries and then Chris Malone hoofed an enormous drop goal from half-way. Leeds were struggling but then James Scaysbrook got himself binned for pulling Dunbar down at a lineout and the tables were turned.
Leeds certainly took advantage of the Bath reduction and scored two tries in quick succession to severely punish Scaysbrook and his colleagues. A penalty to Leeds as the game entered the last quarter gave the Tykes a 28-20 lead and it looked as though Bath could fall to pieces. But this Bath team was determined to battle and a Malone penalty provided a chink of light as the score was dragged back to 28-23.
A crucial missed try opportunity, which saw David Barnes drop the ball in the middle of a maul which had trundled over the Leeds' line, could have been the end for the visitors but they maintained their spirit and kept on attacking. For ten minutes Bath played the phases but couldn't break through a solid wall of Leeds players and just when the Bath fans were sinking in their seats up popped the Malone/Barkley combination to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Brilliant, just brilliant! This took me back to the days of old when Bath were always a "last gasp" team.
Leeds boss Phil Davies said he was "devastated" after the defeat. "With 40 seconds to go we should have shown more control. We did really well to get to 28-20 in front but we were very disappointing from then on. When we did get out of the 22 we gave it away in midfield. It's really frustrating but at least we got a bonus point."
So how did the Bath boys do in this game? Generally pretty good. James Hudson didn't look overawed, calling the line-outs in Borthwick's absence, and did everything asked of him. Matt Perry once again looked sharp and it was good to see him setting up counter-attacks whenever he got the ball. Frikke Welsh didn't see a lot of the ball, but when he did he looked good. His little cameo against David Rees, when he showed Rees the ball, dropped his shoulder chipped, ran past and picked up and then got the ball to Barkley was a delight. Malone and Barkley clicked and Nick Walshe had a very competent game, always getting to the breakdown, quick passes and no gobbiness - bliss!
On the down side I was worried by James Scaysbrook's performance indiscipline and our skipper made more mistakes than we are used to, but we forgive him don't we because he wears his Bath heart on his sleeve. I'm not so sure he'll be so forgiving of himself as he sets high standards for everyone.
Bring on London Irish and our old hero, Sir Michael of Catt. Let's all welcome him of the paws to the Rec next week-end.
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Leeds: 28
Tries: Dunbar, Bell, Snyman Cons: Stimpson 2 Pens: Stimpson 3
Bath: 30
Tries: Fidler, Barkley 2 Cons: Barkley 2 Pens: Malone, Barkley Drops: Malone |
Leeds: Stimpson, Rees, Bell, Snyman, Albanese, Wright, Dickens,
Shelley, Rawlinson, Gerber, Murphy, Palmer, Dunbar, Hyde, Rigney.
Replacements: Holt, Cusack, Uys, Morgan, McMillan, Biggs, Christophers.
Bath: Perry, Daniel, Crockett, Barkley, Welsh, Malone, Walshe, Barnes,
Humphreys, Bell, Hudson, Fidler, Scaysbrook, Lipman, Fea'unati.
Replacements: Mears, Beart, Smith, Lewis, Davey, Baxter, Maddock.
Referee: Sean Davey (West Sussex)
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