Bath's hopes of a Heineken Cup quarter-final spot, as well as their wounded
pride, were restored by a comprehensive victory over Treviso at the Rec.
They collected a bonus point by the 52nd minute and had a number of subsequent
scoring opportunities before prop Duncan Bell finished things off with an injury
time try.
A penalty try on the stroke of half-time was the only reward for Treviso's
efforts but they had to contend with having two players sent to the sin-bin to
Bath's one.
Bath, however, took the field with just 21 fit players to pick from and were
therefore unable to fill the replacements bench.
But there was a distinct air of retribution around the old ground as Bath set
about making amends for an insipid performance in Italy last weekend when they
were beaten 29-23 by Treviso.
Man-of-the-match Olly Barkley landed the first of nine successful kicks in the
fourth minute while Marius Goosen badly hooked two penalty attempts in the first
15 minutes.
Goosen had been perfect with his place-kicking the week before and this
perhaps was a sign that Treviso were going to struggle.
Barkley added another penalty before Andrew Higgins, back in action after
recovering from a fractured jaw, cruised under the posts courtesy of Chris
Malone's pass on 19 minutes.
Barkley converted and added a third penalty seven minutes later to put Bath
16-0 ahead.
The visitors, apart from having problems in the line out, looked off the pace
and were also conceding penalties.
On 35 minutes, stand-in skipper Andy Beattie was driven over from close range
following a flashing break from full-back by Barkley, who then added the
conversion.
Treviso's penalty try followed a rare spell of pressure and the Bath front row
eventually strained the patience of French referee Franck Maciello past breaking
point although both hookers, Lee Mears and Fabio Ongaro, were shown yellow cards
as Goosen kicked the conversion.
Barkley was quickly into the groove after the break, kicking his fourth
penalty and also converting a rare try from lock Rob Fidler to leave Bath 33-7
ahead after 47 minutes.
Replacement Treviso hooker Alvaro Tejeda was shown a yellow card for
persistent infringement on 52 minutes and that resulted in Bath flanker Michael
Lipman being driven over for the try from a line out, with Barkley adding the
conversion.
It was 84 minutes before he made it nine kicks out of nine, converting another
close range try, this time by replacement prop Bell.
Teams:
Bath: Barkley, Higgins, Crockett, Davey, Daniel, Malone,
Walshe, Barnes, Mears, Stevens, Hudson, Fidler, Beattie,
Lipman, Lewis.
Replacements: Baxter for Davey (54),
Scaysbrook for Walshe (61), Ovens for Barnes (73),
Bell for Stevens (73), Borthwick for Fidler (61),
Ward for Beattie (71).
Tries: Higgins, Beattie, Fidler, Lipman, Bell.
Cons: Barkley 5.
Pens: Barkley 4.
Treviso: Williams, Visentin, Pozzebon, Goosen, Canale, Smith,
Troncon, Faliva, Ongaro, Costanzo, Klerck, Gritti, Pavanello,
Orlando, Palmer.
Replacements: Legg for Visentin (60), Picone for Pozzebon (47),
Sbaraglini for Faliva (67), Mauro for Costanzo (40),
Parisse for Gritti (47), Dal Maso for Palmer (67).
Not Used: Tejeda.
Tries: Penalty.
Cons: Goosen.
Att: 10,219
Ref: Franck Maciello (France).
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