Leicester: (6) 26
Tries: J Murphy, M Smith
Con: Goode 2
Pens: Goode 3
Drops: Goode
Bath: (9) 16
Tries: Hawkins
Con: Berne
Pens: Berne (3)
Leicester earned their second win of the season courtesy of a late burst in a hard-fought 26-16 victory over Bath.
The scores were level at 16-16 with seven minutes remaining, but an Andy Goode penalty and injury-time try from Matt Smith sealed the three points.
Bath took a half-time lead courtesy of nine points from Shaun Berne's boot.
A Johne Murphy try gave the Tigers the lead after the break, which Goode extended with a drop-kick, but a Rob Hawkins try set up a tense finish.
 | 606: DEBATE |
Leicester's England prop Julian White was forced off in the third minute with a neck injury and there were further concerns when front-row partner Boris Stankovic limped off in the 49th minute.
The loss of both Tigers props meant the game went to uncontested scrums, much to Bath coach Steve Meehan's frustration.
Fly-half Goode, back in the Tigers starting XV after recovering from a knee injury, needs eight points to become the fourth Leicester player to score 1500 points for the club.
The England international would join Dusty Hare (4,507), John Liley (2,518) and Tim Stimpson (1,713) in that elite group.
Leicester coach Richard Cockerill:
"If I was Bath I would be hugely disappointed. We were lucky to win.
"We have great players across the board and the frustrating thing is that we were flat, didn't look after the ball and didn't do the simple things well.
"We seemed to turn up just expecting to win because we were at Welford Road.
"We played poorly and still won. Hopefully this will be a kick up the backside for us.
"But you can't fault the commitment. We could have easily lost the game, but we dug in and worked hard."
Bath coach Steve Meehan:
"I was disappointed with the way the referee dealt with line-outs as well, but our major problem is our lack of application in the ruck.
"I'm still disappointed we didn't come away with some points."
Leicester: Johne Murphy, Matt Smith, Ollie Smith, Sam Vesty, Tom Varndell, Andy Goode, Frank Murphy; Boris Stankovich, Benjamin Kayser, Julian White, Louis Deacon (c), Marco Wentzel, Tom Croft, Luke Abraham, Brett Deacon.
Replacements: Mefin Davies, Dave Young, Richard Blaze, Jordan Crane, Christophe Laussucq, Paul Burke, Matt Cornwell.
Bath: Nick Abendanon, Andy Higgins, Tom Cheeseman, Shaun Berne, Matt Banahan, Ryan Davis, Michael Claassens; David Barnes, Pieter Dixon, Aaron Jarvis, Peter Short, Danny Grewcock, Andy Beattie, James Scaysbrook, Zak Feaunati (c).
Replacements: Rob Hawkins, Lorne Ward, Daniel Browne, Jonny Faamatuainu, Martin Purdy, Nick Walshe, Jack Cuthbert
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?