Bath qualified for the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter finals when they beat Agen 19-16 at the The Recreation Ground on Saturday.

Scotland international Tom Heathcote slotted 11 points with his boot to help Bath secure the victory in diffucult conditions.

Both teams kickers Tom Heathcote and Raphael Lagarde exchanged penalties in the early stages of the match but then Bath got the breakthrough when Paul James went over.

James' try put the home side into a 13-6 half time lead.

Heathcote then extended Bath's lead with another penalty in the second half before Uelenitoni Fono scored a try and Lagarde's conversion levelled the scores.

However Heathcote stepped up again and slotted what was effectively a match winning penalty for Bath.

Final Score Bath 19 (13) Agen 16 (9)

Scorers

Bath
Tries: James
Penalties: Heathcote 4
Conversions: Heathcote

Agen
Tries: Fono
Penalties: Lagarde 3
Conversions: Lagarde

Match Officials
Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ire),
Assistant ref: Olly Hodges (Ire),
Assistant ref: Dave O'Flynn (Ire)

Teams

Bath Rugby: Nick Abendanon; Olly Woodburn, Dan Hipkiss, Ben Williams, Horacio Agulla; Tom Heathcote, Mark McMillan; Paul James, Lee Mears, Dave Wilson, Dave Attwood, Ryan Caldwell, Will Skuse, Francois Louw (c), Nick Koster.

Replacements: Tom Dunn, Charlie Beech, Anthony Perenise, Stuart Hooper, Guy Mercer, Chris Cook, Kyle Eastmond, Sam Vesty.

Agen: Louis Bataille; Belisario Agulla, Vincent Roux, Benjamin Petre, Romain Edmond-Samuel; Raphael Lagarde, Alexis Bales (c); John Schwalger, Semisi Telefoni, Gert Muller, William Demotte, Damien Lagrange, Antoine Erbani, Pierre Julien, Ueleni Fono.

Replacements: Julien Janaudy, Yannick Pitton, Viliamu Afatia, Leo Bastien, Remy Vaquin, Sylvain Dupuy, Silvere Tian, Leka Tagotago.