Exeter Chiefs keep pressure on Sarries with Bath win

Exeter Chiefs firmed up their second place in the Aviva Premiership standings by beating Bath 26-17 at Sandy Park.

First placed Saracens drew with Sale Sharks on Saturday which gave Exeter the chance to close the gap and they snapped up the opportunity.

Gareth Steenson’s four penalties and two conversions took his Premiership tally to over 1000 points, with his kicks being vital to seeing off a resilient Bath side.

Despite going behind early on, Bath fought back to within two points before Exeter sealed the victory with a late Kai Horstmann try.

Bath were made to pay for their ill-discipline at the scrum once more, seeing their fifteenth yellow card of the season and sinking to their ninth Premiership defeat.

After a slow start to the game, Steenson took the home side in front from the tee after Max Lahiff was penalised at the scrum, before slotting twice more in the opening half an hour.

It wasn’t until the 35 minute mark that Bath found themselves inside the Exeter 22, but as soon as they were they gave the ball away allowing James Short to run the length of the pitch, before shipping it out to Ian Whitten to crash over the line.

Steenson judged the wind well, and added the extras. With the last play of the half however, new signing Amanaki Mafi carried the ball over for Bath in a driving maul to narrow the deficit at the break.

Homer converted well from out wide. In to the second half and Bath were at it again, with Mafi scoring his second of the game with the help of his fellows forwards carrying him over the line.

Tom Homer’s conversion took the score to 16-14. After a poor day of scrummaging, Lahiff was sent to the bin after yet another penalty was given against the Bath pack, but they were able to keep the Chiefs at bay until their team was restored to fifteen men.

Steenson continued his fine kicking form beyond the hour mark, converting yet another penalty in the strong Sandy Park winds, before Homer cancelled it out minutes later on with a fine kick of his own. Exeter battled it out until the end, showing the intention of preventing a bonus point for Bath as they went for the corner in the final few minutes, with the decision being rewarded as replacement Horstmann dotted down in a driving maul.

Steenson converted to take his Aviva Premiership tally to over 1000 points, securing a 26-17 victory for the Chiefs.

Final Score Exeter Chiefs 26 (16) Bath 17 (7)

Scorers

Exeter Chiefs
Tries – Whitten, Horstmann
Pen – Steenson 4
Con – Steenson2
Drop –

Bath
Tries – Mafi 2
Pen – Homer
Con – Homer 2
Drop –

Match Officials
Referee :Greg Garner (93rd Premiership game).
Assistant Referees: Ross Campbell & Paul Dix.
TMO: Geoff Warren.

Teams

Exeter Chiefs

15 Phil Dollman , 14 Olly Woodburn , 13 Ian Whitten , 12 Sam Hill , 11 James Short , 10 Gareth Steenson (capt) , 9 Dave Lewis , 8 Thomas Waldrom , 7 Don Armand , 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Jonny Hill , 3 Harry Williams , 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon

Replacements : 16 Jack Yeandle , 17 Alec Hepburn , 18 Alex Brown , 19 Ollie Atkins , 20 Kai Horstmann , 21 Will Chudley , 22 Will Hooley , 23 Max Bodilly

Bath

15. Tom Homer,14. Semesa Rokoduguni,13. Matt Banahan,12. Kyle Eastmond,11. Horacio Agulla,10. Adam Hastings,9. Chris Cook,1. Max Lahiff,2. Ross Batty,3. Henry Thomas,4. Stuart Hooper ( c ),5. Dominic Day,6. Leroy Houston,7. Francois Louw,8. Amanaki Mafi

Replacements : 16. Tom Dunn,17. Nick Auterac,18. David Wilson,19. Charlie Ewels,20. Matt Garvey,21. Guy Mercer,22. Jonathan Evans,23. Max Clark,