Alfie Barbeary brace saves Bath's blushes away at Bedford Blues

Bath Rugby left it late to secure a 21-7 comeback win away at Bedford Blues at a wet Goldington Road on Saturday to secure their position at the top of Pool D in the Premiership Rugby Cup as attention now returns to the league.

In the first meeting between the two sides since 2000, the first half was plagued by knock-ons, poor passes and lost lineouts as both sides failed to capitalise on their opportunities. Bath wasted the best chance of the half as they drove over from a 5m lineout only for Alfie Barbeary to drop the ball in the act of trying to touch it down.

Max Ojomoh, making his return from a foot injury suffered in pre-season, looked like a man who hadn’t played competitive rugby for two months as he missed his mark with a series of passes in a disjointed display from the backline, but got valuable game-time into his legs. The big news before kick-off was the inclusion of rugby league convert Regan Grace who made his competitive debut for the club after recovering from a hamstring injury suffered on tour with Wales in the summer. The winger showed flashes of his potential with some flashing footwork, but on a wet and narrow pitch his opportunities were limited.

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The second half continued in a similar vein as Orlando Bailey knocked on close to the line after an unexpected offload from Austin Emens but there was better to come.

Bedford produced a few moments of class, both through Will Maisey. First the fly-half launched a long 50/22 kick to give his pack a lineout to launch from and then he got on the end of a grubber kick through to touch the ball down before it rolled dead. His conversion kick made it 7-0.

Bath finally came to life in the final quarter with number eight Barbeary turning his and his side’s game on its head with a brace of tries, along with a close-range blast from replacement hooker Kepu Tuipulotu for his fifth try in three games in this competition.

Bedford Blues: 15. Louis James, 14. Alfie Garside, 13. Lucas Titherington, 12. Joel Matavesi, 11. Dean Adamson, 10. Will Maisey, 9. Alex Day (C); 1. Joey Conway, 2. Tommy Herman, 3. Beltus Nonleh, 4. Rory Ward, 5. George Smith, 6. Fyn Brown, 7. Joe Howard, 8. Fred Tuilagi

Replacements: 16. Nathan Langdon, 17. Jamie Jack, 18. Oisin Heffernan, 19. Shay Kerry, 20. Luke Frost, 21. Jac Arthur, 22. Jonny Weimann, 23. Matt Worley

Bath Rugby: 15. Austin Emens, 14. Regan Grace, 13. Louie Hennessey, 12. Max Ojomoh, 11. Ruaridh McConnochie, 10. Orlando Bailey, 9. Tom Carr-Smith; 1. Arthur Cordwell, 2. Jasper Spandler, 3. Kieran Verden, 4. Mackenzie Graham, 5. Ewan Richards (c), 6. Ethan Staddon, 7. Thompson Cowan, 8. Alfie Barbeary

Replacements: 16. Kepu Tuipulotu, 17. Archie Stanley, 18. Mikey Summerfield, 19. Arthur Green, 20. Jaco Coetzee, 21. Neil Le Roux, 22. Ciaran Donoghue, 23. Will Parry

Referee: Harry Walbaum

Assistant referees: Gareth Holsgrove and James Cornell