Duncan Bell enhanced his iconic status at the Rec with a magnificent "wingers" try (picture here of Belly scoring) on the hour mark to give Bath some breathing space after Worcester had pegged them back from their early eleven point lead. The grin on Belly's face as he walked back to the Bath half to a standing ovation from the Bath faithful was so wide it almost split is face in half. Could life get any better? A beautiful day in a marvellous surrounding with one of the clubs favourite players scoring a superb try!

During half-time  I stood and stared across at the scene behind what I still think of as The Flowerpots (many years ago I used to write in the old match programme under the name The Flowerpot Men - I'd forgotten about that until I was writing this piece and it brings back memories of how the game and club used to be - sigh!), and a surge of desperation suddenly engulfed me. How can we leave this? 

I am a pragmatist by nature as you will know that I've already written several articles on the need to move away from the Rec if the Charity Commission continue what appears (from my uninformed perspective) to be a vendetta against Bath Rugby, however it's days like this when one realises what we'd be giving up. As Optimist keeps saying, "This is bigger than Bath Rugby it's about the City of Bath and what the people of Bath actually want. The Charity Commission should stop ******* with our city!" 

The Charity Commission may think they are doing right by The Rec but actually it's a piece of grass: it doesn't have a heart, a soul or a desperate desire to retain its history. It's the people of Bath who have these emotions and it's the people of Bath who have voted to retain rugby at the Rec.

Despite the final 18 point difference, it wasn't until Michael Lipman (74 mins) and Shaun Berne (80 mins) that Bath really put this game out of reach of the visitors. After scoring two tries in two minutes (16 and 18 mins) to go 14-3 ahead it looked as though Bath would run away with the match from an early stage. But Worcester kept on plugging away, and Rob Debney kept pinging Bath for penalties to ensure that the game was competitive until the final six minutes. You have to wonder how many penalties Robbo would have given away had these ELVs been in place 15 years ago?

There was an air of concern around the ground when Butch James stepped up to take Bath's first shot at goal. Given his painful experiences in recent weeks most thought youngster, Jack Cuthbert, was going to put the South African superstar out of his temporary misery by taking on the kicking duties. But it was Butch by name and Butch by nature as James stepped up and slotted home his first attempt to a tremendous roar. In fact he went on to successfully kick five out of seven attempts and hopefully is well on the way to overcoming his personal bout of the yips.

Bath: Abendanon, Maddock, Crockett, Berne, Cuthbert, James, Claassens, Flatman, Mears, Stevens, Harrison, Short, Hooper, Lipman, Faamatuainu.
Replacements: Fuimaono-Sapolu for Crockett (73), Stephenson for Cuthbert (75), Bemand for Claassens (75), Barnes for Flatman (40), Dixon for Mears (57), Bell for Stevens (57), Scaysbrook for Faamatuainu (73).

Worcester: Latham, Pennell, Rasmussen, Tuitupou, Benjamin, Crichton, R. Powell, R. Powell, Mullan, Lutui, Tuamoepeau, Rawlinson, Gillies, Horstmann, Wood, Talei.
Replacements: B. Jones for R. Powell (67), B. Jones for R. Powell (65), Fortey for Lutui (55), Horsman for Tuamoepeau (55), Kitchener for Rawlinson (57), Cox for Wood (67).
Not Used: Carlisle, Fellows.

Referee: Rob Debney

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