Bath 37 Chiefs 15

Bath 37

Exeter Chiefs 15

Mark Stevens at the Recreation Ground

The hopes of Exeter Chiefs advancing into the latter stages of this season's LV= Cup were dealt an untimely blow as Bath gained maximum reward from their encounter at The Rec.

A storming first half display from Gary Gold's side lay the foundations for a powerful home win, which was sealed emphatically with tries from Matt Banahan, Matt Garvey, Martin Roberts and Charlie Beech.

Goalkickers George Ford and Tom Heathcote did the remainder of the damage as they kicked 17 points between them to ensure Bath's unbeaten streak against the Chiefs continued into yet another game.

In reply, tries from James Phillips and Greg Bateman were the main highlights in a unusually below-par showing from the visitors in the famous Roman city.

Having kicked off their LV= Cup campaign with a 19-5 victory over Harlequins, the Chiefs once again fielded a powerful line-up for this latest match-up against their nearest and dearest. Changes in personnel saw Chris Whitehead and Carl Rimmer come into the front-row, whilst there was a first start of the season for Phillips at No.8. Behind, Haydn Thomas and Henry Slade formed a new half-back pairing; the experienced Jason Shoemark was brought into the midfield; while Welsh international Tom James was given the nod on the left flank.

Like the Chiefs, Bath also opened up their domestic cup account with victory thanks to Dave Attwood's last-gasp try against last season's beaten finalists Sale Sharks. Matchwinner Attwood was one of ten changes the home side made to their starting XV from that which took to the field at the AJ Bell Stadium.

The England international was one of six changes up front for Bath, who also included Carl Fearns, Matt Garvey, Stuart Hooper, Rob Webber and Juan-Pablo Orlandi, the latter of whom was making his first start of the season. In the Bath backs, Ford took over in the number ten jersey, where he was joined by the attacking threats of Matt Banahan, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson.

And it was Ford and Watson who helped provided the catalyst for the game's opening score, which arrived with just two minutes played. In a fast opening from the home side, Ford's clever break through the heart of the Chiefs midfield created the opening for Fearns and Watson to combine before the latter offloaded to Banahan, who was able to finish with ease in the left-hand corner.

Marksman Ford slotted the conversion to that score and Bath's second of the game which followed almost immediately as the lifeless Chiefs were undone on the counter. Skipper Nick Abendanon led the charge, bursting clear of the Exeter defence before feeding Banahan, who with Thomas and Arscott in his way, powered past both men before shipping the ball to Garvey who did the rest.

At 14-0 down, it was hardly the start the visitors would have envisaged but - to their credit - they responded brightly and cut the deficit when Slade slotted a simple penalty after Bath had come under intense pressure at a scrum under their own posts.

Slade had a chance to double his tally moments later when Banahan was adjudged to have held on in the tackle, but this time the Plymouth-born playmaker screwed his testing kick wide of the near post.

It was certainly better from the Chiefs who, after a sluggish start to proceedings, slowly began to find some rhythm within their game. Now with the chance to get their hands on the ball, Exeter looked to attack in numbers with the ever-willing Jack Nowell often at the heart of their best endeavours.

But whilst the approach play of the Chiefs was decent enough, sadly the execution - which has been so prevalent in recent weeks - was amiss as chances came and went with regularity. Indeed, the closest the visitors came to scoring was when both Don Armand and Luke Arscott threatened with close-in raids.

On both occasions, though, Bath's defence was rock solid and having absorbed what the Devonians could throw at them, they hit back at the other end with a third converted try.

Arscott's failure to clear his lines following a clearance kick from Ford not only gifted territory and possession to the home side, but when they saw two line-outs drives dropped to the floor, scrum-half Roberts was quick to notice a gap around the fringes and he scampered his way over without an Exeter body laying a hand on him.

A disastrous first period was then finally brought to a close when, following another home surge, an offside right in front of their own posts allowed Ford to slot an easy penalty with the last kick of the half.

HALF TIME    BATH 24        EXETER CHIEFS 3

The second half was only minutes old when Bath threatened once more, Joseph sliced through the Chiefs defence like a knife through butter, but the subsequent link-up between Abendanon and Watson did not run quite as smoothly as the final pass was spilled by the latter with the line in sight.

It was a mere let-off for the Chiefs who fell further behind on 49 minutes when an illegal charge from Graham - as he looked to clear a ruck close to his own line - allowed Ford to administer a second successful penalty of the afternoon.

The visitors turned to their bench in search for a way back into the contest, but with a catalogue of unforced errors continuing to disrupt their play, it was proving an uphill struggle for the 'Men in White'.

As we know, however, the Chiefs are not the sort of side that will merely lie down and accept their fate. Instead, they fight to the bitter end and on the hour mark their courageous exploits were rewarded when No.8 Phillips (pictured) was able to bulldoze his way over from five metres out to claim a try.

Slade's subsequent conversion, I suppose, summed up Exeter's afternoon as his attempted shot at the target mis-fired badly and floated wide of the mark.

However, any hopes of the Chiefs mounting some kind of miraculous recovery in the final quarter were thwarted when, with ten minutes remaining, Bath struck again with the all-important fourth try.

Strong work from skipper Stuart Hooper saw them win a penalty just inside the Chiefs half and from the resultant kick to the corner and line-out, the home pack merged as one to send Beech over for the score which Heathcote converted with aplomb.

With little more than pride to play for, the Chiefs responded once more and having pressed hard in attack with a plethora of attacking waves, it was hooker Bateman who emerged from a mass of bodies to claim the plaudits from his team-mates for a second try that replacement Ceri Sweeney was able to convert.

It was mere consolation for the Devonians against a Bath side who cemented their win in the final minute when Scottish international Heathcote slotted a penalty from just inside the Exeter 22 after Welsh winger James had been deemed to have held on in the tackle.

With LV= Cup matters now put to bed until the New Year, the Chiefs must regroup quickly following this latest loss in the Roman City. Next up for them is the top flight visit of table-topping Saracens to Sandy Park this Saturday.


Bath: N Abendanon; A Watson (T Biggs 57), J Joseph, O Devoto, M Banahan; G Ford (T Heathcote 65), M Roberts (C Cook 69); N Catt (C Beech 59), R Webber (R Batty h/t), J-P Orlandi (K Palma-Newport 68); S Hooper (capt), D Attwood (D Day 57); M Garvey, C Fearns (M Gilbert 55), L Houston.

Tries - Banahan, Garvey, Roberts, Beech; Conversions - Ford (3); Penalties - Ford (2), Heathcote

Chiefs: L Arscott; J Nowell, S Naqelevuki (I Whitten 55), J Shoemark (capt), T James; H Slade (C Sweeney 65), H Thomas (W Chudley 49); B Moon (K Davies 76), C Whitehead (G Bateman 61), C Rimmer (A Brown 55); R Graham (W Carrick-Smith 65), J Hanks; D Armand, J Scaysbrook (J Conlon 69), J Phillips.

Tries - Phillips, Bateman; Conversion - Sweeney; Penalty - Slade

Referee: A Small

Attendance:11,323

UP NEXT FOR THE CHIEFS: v Saracens (H), Aviva Premiership, Saturday, November 23 (3pm).