Saracens come from behind to beat Bath
Saracens defeated Bath 17-13 in their Aviva Premiership match at the Recreation Ground on Sunday.
Nick Abendanon scored the only try for the home side before Saracens responded with tries from Kameli Ratuvou and James Short.
The win moves Saracens up to third place in the table, but Bath will be disappointed to have lost the match after they had put themselves into a commanding position at half-time.
Olly Barkley opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a superb 45m penalty.
A high tackle by Bath forward Schalk Brits on Barkley allowed the back to score his second penalty and this put Bath into a 6-0 lead.
The home side went further ahead when Abendanon scored a controversial try. Saracens scrum-half Michael Claassen’s kick hit referee Tim Wigglesworth and Abendanon kicked on the loose ball, before winning a foot race with the Saracens defence to score the
opening try of the match. Barkley added the conversion to make the score 13-0.
Owen Farrell scored Saracens first points of the match with a penalty after some good work by winger David Strettle forced Bath to infringe.
Bath started their second half well, but Saracens scored an opportunist try to put themselves back in contention.
Saracens turned over possession and Short latched onto the ball. His kick allowed Ratuvou to race on to the ball and score a breakaway try. Farrell added the conversion to make the score 13-10.
Another error cost Bath the match. Abendanon gathered an innocuous Farrell grubber kick and his attempted kick down-field was charged down by Short. The Saracens back picked up the ball and he had an easy run to the line. Farrell knocked over the conversion
to make the score 17-13.
Speaking after the match, Saracens head coach Mark McCall said, “I think that's as pleasing a result, given the circumstances, as we have had in the 18 months we've been together. It was all about showing unity. In that period of 30 minutes where we went
13-0 down, we had actually played quite well. I thought our line-out was exceptional. We thoroughly deserved to win the match.”
Bath head coach Steve Meehan was encouraged by his team’s display, despite letting a 13 point lead slip. “It's sometimes too easy to concentrate on the negatives. There were some real improvements in some of our play today. At various times when we had our
attacking shape and structure correct, we were a real threat,” he said.
Tags: