Bath turned on the style against their West Country neighbours in a remarkable
second half performance that saw them score 28 points without reply.
Gloucester had no answer to the pace of the home side and have now lost seven
of their last eight league matches.
Although Bath have little hope of catching Leicester in the Premiership race,
they are clearly gearing themselves up for a determined tilt at the play-offs.
Gloucester were very much in touch at half-time, trailing 22-16 as fly-half
Simon Mannix kicked three penalties and also converted a smart try by fly-half
Chris Catling.
However Bath had already sounded a warning by crossing the Gloucester line
three times. The first, echoing the try that settled the first match between the
sides at Kingsholme in September, came courtesy of a clever Mike Catt chip to
the corner where Iain Balshaw collected to score.
On 14 minutes there was a change of referee after New Zealander Paddy O'Brien
went off with a pulled calf muscle to be replaced by Yorkshireman John Barnard
who kept a firm grip on events for the next 70 minutes, awarding on average a
penalty every two minutes.
There was however time for some impressive play from the Bath backs, notably
from young Australian Shaun Berne who wrong-footed his compatriot, Jason Little
on 25 minutes to score the second Bath try. The third was a more straightforward
effort from skipper Ben Clarke 10 minutes later, crashing through from five
metres.
Gloucester's fate was settled early in the second half as Jon Preston landed
two penalties in quick succession before Catt scored on 54 minutes, looping
around Kevin Maggs and then sprinting to the corner.
Bath were well into their stride against a tiring Gloucester team when Matt
Perry scored the fifth on 71 minutes and, fittingly, it was left to Catt to
round things off in injury time, sprinting from his own 22, chipping ahead and
collecting the kick to score at the other end.
Teams:
Bath: Perry, Balshaw, Maggs, Berne, Voyce, Catt,
Preston, Emms,
Regan, Mallett, Lloyd, Borthwick, G. Thomas, Clarke, Lyle.
Replacements: Williams for Preston (73), Barnes for Emms (61),
Long for Regan (64), N. Thomas for Clarke (67).
Not Used: Cox, Thirlby, Haag.
Tries: Balshaw, Berne, Clarke, Catt 2, Perry.
Cons: Preston 3, Perry.
Pens: Preston 4.
Gloucester: Catling, Fanolua,
Little, Yates, Beim, Mannix,
Gomarsall, Woodman, Azam, Vickery, Eustace, I. Jones, Boer,
K. Jones, Ojomoh.
Replacements: Deacon for Woodman (69), Fortey for Azam (64),
Hazell for K. Jones (64).
Not Used: Hayward, Greenslade-Jones, M. Cornwell, Pearce.
Tries: Catling.
Cons: Mannix.
Pens: Mannix 3.
Att: 8,200
Ref: Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand).
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