Bath (17) 45
Tries: Maddock (2), Crockett (2), penalty, Browne Conv: James (6) Pens: James Bristol (8) 8
Try: Robinson Pen: Barnes
 Full-back Maddock marked his 100th appearance for Bath with two tries |
Bristol's woes at the bottom of the Guinness Premiership worsened with a comprehensive defeat by rivals Bath. Bath scored six tries and Butch James kicked 15 points in a one-sided game. The hosts led 17-8 at the break thanks to two Joe Maddock tries, with Bristol's try coming when Lee Robinson gathered a Shaun Perry chip ahead. Alex Crockett crossed twice and Bristol conceded two tries - one a penalty and the other a Daniel Browne touchdown, while Haydn Thomas was in the sin-bin. The game began ominously for Bristol with James testing their defence with a full repertoire of kicks before Maddock scored the opening try after five minutes. Full-back Maddock dummied his way past Tom Arscott and raced 40m to the posts to leave an easy conversion for James.  | 606: DEBATE |
Robinson's try and an Ed Barnes penalty gave Bristol an improbable 8-7 lead after 26 minutes, but it was a short-lived lead as James kicked a simple penalty. Maddock's second try, which James converted, ensured the hosts went into the break 17-8 ahead. Barnes missed a penalty for Bristol and he was rueing his wastefulness when James's grubber put Crocket through for a 46th-minute try. In the 50th minute Perry was brought off for Thomas, who had been sin-binned within two minutes of coming on, and Bath took full advantage of the extra man by scoring two converted tries. Crockett crossed over in the 70th minute after a sublime break by Nick Abendanon and Robinson's late yellow card for an illegal tackle compounded Bristol's misery.
Bristol head coach Paul Hull:
"It looks like we might not be playing in the Premiership but the nucleus is there with the seven signings we made this week. "We set out our stall to go in at half-time within a couple of scores so when we turned round just nine points down I wasn't too disappointed. "We started well after the break and showed fight but the pressure told." Bath head coach Steve Meehan:
"The first half was a reflection of the training we've put in this week. The second half was a result of sticking with the plan. "Our midfield gave us a lot of direction. We were able to move the ball wide and the passing was accurate. "We're now going to have three days off and come back on Wednesday to prepare for our trip to Saracens next weekend."
Bath: Maddock, Higgins, Crockett, Hape, Banahan, James, Bemand, Barnes, Hawkins, Bell, Hooper, Short, Beattie, Scaysbrook, Faamatuainu.
Replacements: Abendanon for Higgins (52), Berne for Hape (58), Baxter for Banahan (62), Lilley for Hawkins (71), Ion for Bell (58), Goodman for Scaysbrook (66), Browne for Faamatuainu (47). Bristol: T. Arscott, Robinson, N. Brew, Eves, N. Brew, Barnes, Perry, Irish, Blaney, Crompton, Winters, Budgett, R. Pennycook, El Abd, Ward-Smith.
Replacements: L. Arscott for Eves (58), Ashwin for Barnes (69), Thomas for Perry (50), Hayes for Blaney (15), Thompson for Crompton (70), Attwood for Budgett (66), To'oala for R. Pennycook (58). Sin Bin: Thomas (52), Robinson (79). Att: 10,600 Ref: David Rose (RFU)
| 
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?