Douglas try secures Bath final spot in the Anglo-Welsh

A damp Rec was the venue for the first semi final of the Anglo-Welsh cup, but that didn’t deter 8000 loyal home fans who endured the pouring rain and inspired their side to a final next weekend at Kingsholm, Gloucester.

 

The game was very tight and involved a lot of kicking with Welsh wizard Josh Lewis at the heart of it for Bath and quickly got off the mark in the fourth minute as he struck a penalty through the upright.

 

The only try of the game came through a wonderful kick from Lewis who pushed the Saints back into their 22. The forwards then forced the turnover and returning from injury Tom Ellis passed the ball back to Levi Douglas who wriggled over the line to give Bath a 10-0 lead.

 

Northampton fly half Stephen Myler then brought Northampton back into the game with a trio of penalties after a needless infringement from Josh Lewis sent him to the sin bin for ten minutes as the score was 10-9 at half time.

 

The rain continued to beat down after the break, the game turned into an arm wrestle and was a test for which defence would creak first and Bath committed a penalty at the scrum which Myler duly dispatched as Northampton took the lead for the first time in the match.

 

With the game on a knife edge Teimana Harrison had a moment of madness, aiming a headbutt at Nathan Catt and was sent off leaving his team down to fourteen men and trailing by a point as Lewis kicked the resulting penalty. The Saints couldn’t force a breakthrough and will look back on what could have been, in a season that has been one to forget.

 

Bath having been so despondent last weekend will look forward to next Sunday playing for a piece of silverware against local rivals Exeter Chiefs, who they will also play the week after in the Aviva Premiership. So the blue, black and white will be looking to get their hands on a trophy for the first time in a decade.