Bath were made to work hard by Exeter but eventually emerged with a deserved 23-15 Premiership victory at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.
The home side started like a train, controlling possession from the outset, and it didn't take them long to hit the front.
Nick Abendanon's jinking run set up Ben Williams to score in the right-hand corner after Gonzalo Camacho had missed two tackles in quick succession.
They weren't the last tackles the Chiefs would miss either as they struggled to deal with the relentless waves of attacks from the hosts.
Several defenders made a meal of bringing down Francois Louw after quarter of an hour and that allowed Stephen Donald to find Kyle Eastmond in acres of space on the right wing and he coasted over in the corner.
The visitors finally got some possession midway through the half and they did briefly show a glimpse of the form that has made them the second top try-scorers in the league this season, with Jason Shoemark and Tom Johnson giving Brett Sturgess the chance to trundle over in the corner.
Bath were dominant for the most part though and they added a late penalty from World Cup-winning fly-half Donald to make it 15-5 at the break.
Exeter improved in the early stages of the second half and reduced the deficit with a Steenson penalty but the hosts hit them with another killer blow moments later as the impressive Eastmond and Abendanon shipped the ball out for Louw to score.
Still the Chiefs refused to lie down though and, after Dan Hipkiss was sent to the sin bin with quarter of an hour remaining, replacement Ignacio Mieres took advantage of the extra man by using an overlap as a decoy and stepping inside Tom Biggs to score.
Hipkiss never re-entered the fray as he was given a second yellow card whilst in the sin bin for getting involved and interfering with the ball when he shouldn't have and that added to a nervous end to the match for his side.
A late Donald penalty made the victory safe though and, despite an almost endless period of added time as the hosts pushed for a bonus point try and Exeter looked for a losing bonus point, that was the final score of the game and Bath deservedly recorded their fourth win of the campaign.
The scorers:
For Bath:
Tries: Williams, Eastmond, Louw
Con: Donald
Pens: Donald 2
For Exeter:
Tries: Sturgess, Mieres
Cons: Mieres
Pens: Steenson
Yellow card: Hipkiss (Bath - 66th min)
Red card: Hipkiss (Bath - 74th min)
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Kyle Eastmond, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Ben Williams, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Francois Louw (c), 6 Carl Fearns, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Dominic Day, 3 David Wilson, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Stuart Hooper, 20 Will Skuse, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Sam Vesty, 23 Horacio Agulla.
Exeter: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Phil Dollman, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 James Hanks, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Carl Rimmer, 2 Simon Alcott, 1 Brett Sturgess.
Replacements: 16 Chris Whitehead, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Chris Budgen, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Ignacio Mieres, 23 Ian Whitten.
Venue: Recreation Ground
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Robin Goodliffe
Television match official: Geoffrey Warren
Comments
APV1 says...
Hipkiss is a prat. What a plonker! A well-deserved red card there for horribly cynical play. A real shame because, despite my reservations, both he and Williams were having a great game. Right up until he had his brain farts.
Anyone who suggests that the "AP is boring" need to watch this match. Both teams running it from deep on a fantastic afternoon in Bath. When the weather's like that, the runners get going. Great to watch, especially Bendy!
@ Rosbif - Bath, on a day like that, is one of the best places to be in the world. I, of course, wasn't there. I had my head stuck up a prop's bum, as we were short a 2R and I had to fill in! I'd forgotten what a daft place the 2R is - I'm a flanker by trade... But we won against a much younger bunch of players, so that was good fun too. Feeling it this morning though!
@ 1st58 - I'd like to see Agulla have a run at 13, with Williams on his inside. I also agree with your point about our subs. I thought Hoops did ok and Agulla is an obvious talent. Perenise brought fresh legs and looked sharp. But who else do we have? With so many of our key players injured and unavailable, it makes it tough when we need to sub.
Eastmond is still learning Union and it showed on a couple of occasions. His defence is a bit too high for such a short chap - he needs to be going in around the ankles. Or am I being too critical?
I agree that DH's yellow was a team yellow, but his red was a brain fart.
@ luv2h8 - he may be competative but how much would we have laughed if we'd lost due to an overlap out wide..?
@ passtheball - Beaver is growing on me. I wasn't sure when he signed, mainly due to the negative reports from NZ. But he's got excellent vision and is playing well. He's not the fleetest of foot, but he reads the game well and rarely lets us down. He's certainly a good person for Heathcote to learn from.
Posted 11:06 29th October 2012
luv2h8 says...
Donalds form has been good
Posted 13:31 28th October 2012
passtheball says...
The Hipkiss red and the game after the hooter was fantastic entertainment. Stephen Donald in a jersey that fits was a bit strange. I haven't watched him that much recently - is he worth his wages? Will he be re-signed?
Posted 13:10 28th October 2012
luv2h8 says...
Hipkiss on the field was immense, he took yellow for the team and the red was due to his ultra competitive nature. As bath fans we did have a laugh when he did that tho.
Posted 12:28 28th October 2012
jamesliveinhope says...
having reluctantly surrendered my season ticket a few seasons ago (the 160 miles becoming just a little too much of a challenge) - I tend to rely on TV (or today radio) broadcasts.
Radio Bristol did their best to ruin what sounded like a cracking match today but one thing that seems to be becoming a feature of Bath's performances at the moment is Dan Hipkiss's ability to suffer complete brain fade at crucial moments of the game.
I'll not criticize the offside (didn't see it and not sure whether it was a team yellow rather than a Hipkiss yellow) BUT, having weathered the storm, and with hardly any of his sin-bin left what was he thinking?
I hope he's not going to become a liability.
Posted 21:58 27th October 2012
1st58 says...
Delighted Bath won, but Hipkiss is an idiot.
I felt Bath didnt make the most of their scrum dominance - and hope Fearns is back soon, as outside of him and Loouw the cupboard is bare (hoping the new Saffa can change that).
Its good to see Attwood finding his form, and plaudits to Abendanon and both wingers. The great worry is our backups are really a big downgrade and clearly we desperately need some scrummaging props when Wilson and James aren't available, and the likes of Macmillan and Cuthbert are really not up to premiership standard, hopefully the Fijiian will strengthen the squad, and can't wait to see Agulla show his class - although wing is not our most pressing need - perhaps he'll slot in at centre as he is a very strong tackler.
Posted 21:57 27th October 2012
Rosbif says...
Well APV1, you must be a happy man. Great game. Lovely sunny day. How pretty is the Rec? How good is Abendannon? How hard are Exeter to put away! It felt to me like one of those amazing ITM cup games where both sides just run like crazy for 85mins trying to score tries. Good advert for (am I allowed to say this?) the AP, and the attitude of both these AP teams who, might we say, may not expect to be top of table come May. (and I mean that in a totally non-judgemental way, and will be happy to be proved otherwise and made to eat my words yummy yum)
:-)
Posted 20:55 27th October 2012
luv2h8 says...
Amazing commitment from both teams typified by playing about five minutes of xtra time with both sides quick tapping. One of the most satisfying wins i have been to. Well done to exeter as well really fought back.
Posted 20:06 27th October 2012
melkdave says...
Well what can you say about that match,lots of passion from both teams,and both showing they can play with the pill.Bath exacuted better ,and that is what won them the game imo.But has to be worrying that they totally lost control of the ball ,for most of the 2nd half .Good defence from Bath overall 2nd half ,but alot of cynacial play aswell ,,could have been to 12-13 players truth be told ,it was that blatent at times.Exeter good ball retention ,and put the phases together,but again where to side to side imo,and when they made the space and breakthough,the final pass was lacking .
Posted 16:37 27th October 2012