Defensive Heroics Help Bath to Mighty Away Win
Action
By Glen Leat
November 17 2002
Bath beat Newcastle 24-20 at Kingston Park in a good old fashioned "game of two halves". 24-12 up at half-time Bath should have been looking to build on their excellent first half performance but thanks to a second half recovery by the Falcons they ended up scrapping for a very tight win.
Referee Ashley Rowden looked at his pretend
watch one more time and saw that the game
was almost seven minutes over time but despite
trying to prolong the agony for Bath players,
management and fans alike he had no choice
but to blow for "no side" and call
the match to a halt - Bath were winners for
the second week in a row!
Bath got off to an absolute flyer on a beautiful
sunny November afternoon in the North East
with Andy Williams scoring a try in the second
minute and over the next 29 minutes Tom Voyce
scored a second try, which was converted
by Matt Perry, following four successful
penalties with Perry and Chris Malone bagging
a brace apiece. Newcastle were struggling
and were clearly second best in the first
half with just a penalty from fly-half Earl
Va'a and a Tom May drop-goal to show for
their effort. Malone had not stared the game
but with Mike Catt limping from the field
with an ice-pack strapped to his knee it
was not long before the young Aussie was
being asked to control the mid-field. To
make matters even harder for Bath they had
to start the match without regular points
scorer Olly Barkley who is suffering from
a leg injury.
A massive second half comeback saw the geordies
almost snatch the game though they did earn
a bonus point. Newcastle's only try came from fullback Joe
Shaw, with Va'a adding a further three penalties.
Bath were on the back foot for most of this
half and their defence soaked up tremendous
pressure as the home side did everything
in their power to break through. There were
few opportunities for Bath to relive the
onslaught though Chris Malone had a chance
to put seven points between the two sides
after 65 minutes but he missed the kick at
goal and so consigned himself and his mates
to another 20 minutes of try-line defensive
heroics. Matt Perry was injured and replaced
by Rob Thirlby towards the end of the match,
after such a lengthy lay-off and his keenness
to play this year we must all hope the injury
is not serious as a fit and confident Matt
Perry is a must for a successful Bath team,
especially with Catty crocked.
Steve Borthwick and Dan Lyle again played
well together in the second row with the
young Englishman dominating the line-out.
Danny Grewcock came on for Lyle in the final
quarter to help his young team mate shore
up the Bath defence just when it looked as
though it would be breached by the great
Northern onslaught. Mention should also be
made of Alex Crockett and Spencer Davey in
the centre of the threequarters who along
with Tom Voyce and Chris Malone (and Olly
Barkley) are being asked to grow up very
quickly - well done boys we are proud of
your efforts today!
Bath are now on a roll and the big West Country
derby next week against Bristol should be
an absolute cracker.
Let's look at the result of your prediction
for this game:
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Bath scorers
Tries: Williams, Voyce
Cons: Perry (1)
Pens: Perry (2), Malone (2)
Drop Goal:
Bath:
15. Matt Perry 14. Simon Danielli 13. Alex Crockett 12. Spencer Davey 11. Tom Voyce 10. Mike Catt 9. Andy Williams 1. David Barnes 2. Jonathan Humphreys
3. John Mallet 4. Steve Borthwick 5. Dan Lyle 6. James Scaysbrook 7. Andy Beattie 8. Nathan Thomas