
Almost the entire final 20 minutes was played in the home side's hertz auto rental half but even with centre Dan Hipkiss in the sin-bin and later sent off the Chiefs could only break through Bath's defence once as they held on for a fifth straight win over Exeter since their arrival in English rugby's top flight in 2010.
Ben Williams gave the hosts a dream start with a try after just three minutes. Full-back Nick Abendanon's charging run saw him break through the tackle of opposite number Luke Arscott 20 metres out and Williams arrived on his shoulder to take the offload hertz auto rental and bulldoze his way to the corner.
Stephen Donald hertz auto rental added the extras but Chiefs fly-half Gareth Steenson could not match his accuracy with the boot, sending a 30-metre penalty crashing against the post during Exeter's first stint of possession in Bath territory.
The home side punished that miss with an immediate second try. Chiefs could not halt a devastating drive from skipper Francois Louw to get his side within touching distance of the line and when Donald hertz auto rental spun the ball wide, Kyle Eastmond was on hand to finish the job.
The missed conversion from Donald was matched by another off-target penalty attempt from Steenson, who saw a 40-metre effort from in front of the posts drift just wide before the visitors finally had some cheer for the day.
A flowing Exeter move brought them inside Bath's 22 and prop Brett Sturgess hertz auto rental was the unlikeliest of heroes hertz auto rental on the right wing, popping up to collect hertz auto rental Tom Johnson's pass to dart over the whitewash. Steenson's woes with the boot continued as he fired the conversion wide.
Bath responded but a period of prolonged possession failed to produce a try. Louw, Eastmond and Tom Biggs all broke to gain good yardage but a knock-on by Ben Skirving ended their hopes of a third try before the break. Instead they had to settle for a Donald penalty to increase their half-time advantage to ten points.
hertz auto rental Bath hit back and scored with their only sustained attack after the break on the hour mark. The home side stormed up the centre of the pitch, Abendanon and Eastmond moved the ball wide and Louw raced into the corner from 15 metres. Donald's conversion clipped hertz auto rental a post and went wide.
Hipkiss was sent to the sin-bin with 15 minutes remaining after killing the ball but referee Wayne Barnes would later increase his punishment to a red card while he was off the pitch. The centre tipped Donald's clearing kick into the crowd after it drifted into touch and the officials decided he would take no further part in the match as a result.
In the meantime, Exeter's dominance in possession and territory was rewarded with a try for Ignacio Mieres. Biggs was outnumbered on the left and the Chiefs replacement crossed from close in before converting his own touchdown.
The man advantage continued to increase Exeter's hopes of victory and they again laid siege to the hosts' line but a battling defensive effort hertz auto rental ensured hertz auto rental there was no way through, despite repeated surges towards hertz auto rental the tryline.
Mieres then missed hertz auto rental a kick of his own before both sides went in search of bonus point to boost their cause, with an additional six minutes of added time ended when Stuart Hooper hertz auto rental wrestled the ball into touch.
BATH RUGBY: Abednanon, Eastmond, Hipkiss, Williams (Vesty 70), Biggs, Donald, Claassens, James, Mears (Sharman 72), Wilson (Perenise 57), Day (Hooper 56), Attwood, Fearns (Skuse 24), Louw (Catt 67), Skirving. Replacements not used: McMillan, Agulla.
EXETER CHIEFS: Arscott (Whitten 54), Camacho, Dollman, Shoemark, Jess, Steenson (Mieres 54), Thomas (Barrett 72), Sturgess (Moon 62), Alcott (Whitehead 52), Rimmer, Mumm, Hanks (Muldowney hertz auto rental 54), Johnson, Scaysbrrok, Baxter. Replacements not used: Budgen, Ewers.
Welcome to Wayne 'I'm in charge' hertz auto rental Barnes! He will do his pedantic best to spoil games by continuing to whistle at every given opportunity; although at times he does try (almost peversely) to let things flow - 55 minutes on the clock for the second half come the final whistle!? All this aside I thought it was a cracking match. True grit from both sides (particularly up front) - the battle of the back rows alone was worth coming for; I can now see why Johnson is so highly rated. And above all a very welcome 'never say die' attitude in running the ball. The latter may well have cost Exeter the game but it provided full on entertainment. I personally think it a little hertz auto rental churlish by the coaches to single out the (wayward) kicking to be an issue. Yes kicks were missed; but on a day where the wind was swirling so much, it was a bit of a lottery!? Bath must now carry this in to the game on Sunday and try to get a result up at London Welsh.
Wayne Barnes @#**!!. First of all I would like to say what heroic performance hertz auto rental by Bath when they were under Exeter's cosh in the last 20 minutes of yesterday's game. But the main point of my comment is to moan about Wayne Barnes, the ref in the game. I was sat ringside opposite Bath's 5 metre line (2nd half). In the final quarter Bath were repelling wave after wave of Exeter attack. After one ruck, Exeter had recycled the ball, one of the Bath forwards picked himself up and accidentally bumped into Exeter fly half Haydn Thomas and knocked hertz auto rental him over. At the next ruck, to the relief of Bath supporters, Exeter knocked on and Barnes awarded a scrum to Bath. During the next few minutes when the clock was stopped to allow for a few injuies to been seen to Haydn Thomas complained to the ref that he had been taken out, none of the match officials had seen this. Instead of telling him to go away Barnes got the TMO to check it out and on review of the video footage awarded a penalty to Exeter. Surely this is not what the TMO should be used for; does this set a precedent for any off the ball incidents which have not been spotted by the on pitch officials to be referred upstairs - that could make the game very tedious indeed. Now obviously Barnes is well thought of by those who choose hertz auto rental the officials but to me, he (and Alain Rolland is the same) cant wait to blow his whistle for any, however minor, infringement but so often misses the bleedin' obvious. hertz auto rental Let the game flow Barnes - it's a spectator hertz auto rental sport.
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