Bath 35-31 Glasgow Warriors
Bath (11) 35
Tries: Beattie, Stephenson 2, Berne Cons: James 3 Pens: James 3

Glasgow (14) 31
Tries: T Evans 3, O'Hare, Jackson Cons: Gregor 2, Jackson



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Bath hung on for a crucial bonus-point Heineken Cup win despite conceding five tries against a spirited Glasgow.

The home side made a host of errors in the first half and Glasgow led 14-11 at the break with two Thom Evans tries.

Michael Stephenson responded for Bath just after half-time only for Evans to claim his third try.

Stephenson and Shane Berne looked to have sealed an easy win but tries from Hefin O'Hare and Ruaridh Jackson set up a grandstand finish.

And Jackson almost sneaked an amazing victory with the last play of the game but he ran out of gas after intercepting a Bath attack inside his own 22.

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Bath: Abendanon; Stephenson, Cheeseman, Fuimaono-Sapolu, Banahan; James, Claassens; Flatman, Dixon, Stevens, Hooper, Grewcock, Beattie, Lipman, Browne.
Replacements: Mears, Jarvis, Short, Faamatuainu, Bemand, Berne, Higgins.

Glasgow: Stortoni; Faatau, M Evans, Henderson, T Evans; Jackson, Gregor; Tckachuk, Hall, Kalman, Barker, Kellock, Brown, Barclay, Beattie.
Replacements: Milligan, Low, Turner, Vernon, Pinder, O'Hare, Nunez Piossek.

Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

THE HERALD REPORTS

Bath hold on as Jackson almost caps perfect daySTUART McALLISTER December 08 2008
It was a case of so near yet so far for Glasgow as they scored five tries, grabbed two bonus points in defeat and came within a fraction of snatching a dramatic victory at the end.

In Ruaridh Jackson, however, they may have unearthed a new star. The youngster, making his first start at outside-half produced an accomplished debut with an interception try to earn the losing bonus point and then nearly capped it off with another interception in the last seconds.

With 90 yards to go, Bath full-back Nick Abendanon had sufficient pace to prevent Jackson from going all the way - the Glasgow man's kick forward rolled into touch and the final whistle was blown.

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The man-of-the-match award, however, went to Glasgow wing Thom Evans who showed a real eye for the line with two of his three tries and the opportunism to create the third through pressure.

Had Glasgow snatched a dramatic late victory, however, it would have been a case of daylight robbery given Bath's domination of the match, especially in the second half.

That said, though, Glasgow showed their quality and restored some pride on the road and set up the return match against Bath at Firhill next weekend perfectly.

Coach Sean Lineen was both disappointed and delighted afterwards, as Glasgow had outscored Bath five tries to four. "First and foremost it was a great game of rugby, the belief was there and Ruaridh Jackson was outstanding in his first game," he said.

"There was also some great finishing from Thom, he is still learning but he is a great athlete, while I was also pleased for Andy Henderson.

"The back row were immense, but it was a real team effort from one to 22 and all the players deserved to get a bit more out of the game, but that period at the start of the second half was decisive when maybe we tried to play too much.

"We have some things to look at in our defence for next week, which will be another cracker at Firhill."

If Bath were favourites before the game then Glasgow got off to the perfect start as the home team played some loose rugby and the visitors were in the mood to capitalise.

Centre Max Evans started the attack and was able to regather his own chip through thanks to a friendly bounce.

He was held up just short of the line, but as the ball came back brother Thom was able to sniff out a gap close to the ruck and speed through it for the first try of the game after just six minutes. Colin Gregor converted.

The first Bath try was a long time in coming with Glasgow doing whatever was required to prevent their line being breached.

In the end it took a bit of bad luck - it appeared they should have had a 22 drop out after touching down in goal, but instead Bath were given the five-yard scrum and flanker Andy Beattie squeezed his way over.

Glasgow re-asserted themselves straight from the kick off and when the ball came back to Thom Evans with a straightforward two on two, he had the pace to arc through the gap and run in untouched for his second try.

Bath obviously had a stern talking-to during the half-time interval. A series of powerful drives saw the ball going wide to wing Mike Stephenson and he was able to work his way over in the corner with James converting from wide out.

However, Glasgow and that man Thom Evans were very persistent. Centre Andrew Henderson kicked through, but Stephenson fumbled under pressure from Evans who was able to get a boot to the loose ball and then fall on it over the line for his hat-trick.

Stephenson made up for his error by getting his second try, coming back inside off his wing at pace to break through the defence, fellow wing Matt Banahan created his side's fourth try for replacement centre Shaun Berne to bring up the bonus point.

Glasgow hit back in kind through Hefin O'Hare, on for Thom Evans, from close range and then Jackson got his side's fifth try with an interception on halfway to set up the dramatic finish.

This article was originally posted on 7-Dec-2008, 14:32 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 8-Dec-2008, 08:04.