Bath score late try to earn draw with Saints
Saturday, 22 Nov 2008 17:01
James got the vital conversion that earned Bath a draw
Bath scored a try late in the game for the second successive week to earn a share of the points with Northampton Saints at Franklins Gardens.
The league leaders were ahead 21-13 at the break but Saints came back strongly in the second half and led by seven points with ten minutes remaining.
However, Jonathon Faamatuainu managed to cross the whitewash late on and Butch James' conversion made it 28-28 at the final whistle.
James scored two early penalties but a try from Paul Diggin got the Saints on the scoreboard.
Stephen Myler added two further penalties for Northampton but Bath's dominance of the first half continued as Jack Cuthbert and Daniel Browne scores tries to put the visitors in a commanding position at the break.
Mark Easter reduced their deficit straight after half time and a drop by Myler gave them a narrow lead. That advantage was stretched further when Soane Tonga'uiha scored.
But Bath once again showed the resolve that took them to a win over Leicester last week when Faamatuainu's try gave James the chance to get the draw which he duly took.
Elsewhere, Leicester Tigers closed the gap to Bath with a comfortable 27-14 win over Harlequins at Welford Road.
Jonny Murphy gave the Tigers the perfect start when he scored a try in the opening minute of the match.
Derrick Hougaard added the conversion and two penalties in response to one penalty from Nick Evans to extend the home side's lead.
The fly-half then scored another try to give them a commanding lead. Evans chipped away at that lead with two penalties but Leicester led 20-9 at the break.
Matt Smith scored the tigers' third of the match straight after the restart and the Leicester defence did the rest – keeping Quins from scoring until three minutes from time.
Chris Brooker scored Quins' consolation try but it did little to deflect from the dominance of the Tigers' performance.