Spirited Bath repay a city’s undying faith

By TOM BRADSHAW

Bath ………………..21pts

Tries: Muir 44, 58

Conversions: Spencer 45

Penalties: Spencer 27, 30, 79

Harlequins ……..17pts

Tries: Lamb 12, Murley 40, Hammnd 74

Conversions: Allan 13

THIS was a night when one man rediscovered his purpose, a team found its feet, and a city's faith got its reward.

A makeshift Bath side, spearheaded by their ribsmashing, Mohican-haired loanee Nathan Hughes, grafted their way to an improbable – and spiritrenewing – win over the champions.

Never has being bottom of the Premiership felt so good.

Bath supporters have displayed a loyalty this season that has bordered on the masochistic. They've seen their team take some hideous beatings, not least the 64-7 monstering by Leinster just six days earlier. Their side has looked disjointed to the point of being misshapen.

Yet here they were again in their droves on Friday, assembling to watch a side which on paper – with 21 players unavailable – looked to be forlorn cannon fodder for a Quins team on a seven-game winning streak.

But sport can spring surprises, just as it can quicken the higher feelings. And through a combination of Will Muir's well-taken double, Ben Spencer and Max Ojomoh's unlikely half-back partnership, and Hughes' steadily-increasing desire to break down brick walls, Bath delivered an 80- minute lesson on the value of hope.

Bath is the most romantic of rugby settings and on this January night the Bath supporters discovered what Romantic poets have long scribbled about: that suffering and joy are inextricably linked.

The spirit of belief that began to fizz between players and crowd once Muir scooted over for his first try in the 44th minute was a powerful forcefield. To think how crushed Bath would have felt had Quins pulled off one of their lastminute get-out-of-jail moments is not something home fans would wish to ponder.

“I'm a little relieved but more than anything I feel immense pride at the effort,” said Bath head coach Neal Hatley, not a man given to outpourings of emotion.

“I don't want to get carried away. It's a good win at home and we've got Saracens away next week so it doesn't get any easier.”

Hughes has become a peripheral figure at parent club Bristol, but he became central here, culminating in a giant-slaying tackle on Andre Esterhuizen.

“Nathan's one of ours for a while now and has brought great energy to the group,” said Hatley.

Energy and belief are some of sport's great intangibles, but Bath found both in growing abundance.

Things had begun brightly for Quins. Danny Care, fresh from signing a new contract, was quickly displaying his sharp-thinking skills, while Jack Walker, captain against his former club, was soon helping to apply the squeeze on a Bath scrum that conceded four penalties in the first seven minutes.

Dino Lamb's try gave Quins the lead, but Spencer's generalship at scrum-half gave Bath a foothold. His relentless stream of box kicks was the stuff of nightmares for fullback Tyrone Green.

Cameron Redpath, back from an injury-blighted year, staked his claim for a place in Scotland's centres for the Calcutta Cup, while Ojomoh delivered a performance that did not suggest he felt out of position at 10.

Quins scored a couple of beauties through Cadan Murley and George Hammond, but they became increasingly ill-disciplined and buckled under Bath's aerial pressure.

The clinching penalty was kicked by Spencer, and despite propping up the table Bath momentarily felt top of the world.