Things looked ominous when the West Country outfit ran in two converted tries in the opening nine minutes in building a 17-3 lead. However the Wanderers battled back to score two tries of their own before half-time, the first for Howard Packman, the second a penalty try which rewarded dominance in the pack.
Glenn Dickson’s two conversions levelled things up going into the break, and with the Wanderers edging the territory and possession in the early second half exchanges a memorable comeback win looked on the cards.
But Bath scored a third try just past the hour mark, and although Dickson landed a penalty to put his team within a five-pointer of winning it was the visitors who got the sealing try two minutes from time.
And although the Wanderers finished with the runners-up medals Dickens said that the players can hold their heads high.
“They started really well in the first 20 minutes to build a score,” he told SaintsTV. “But credit to our boys for coming back from that to level it at 17-all at half-time.
“We dominated possession in the last 20 minutes of the first half and we had a lot of possession at the start of the second half, too, but couldn’t quite get the points on the board.
“But I’m really proud of the boys. We take the Aviva ‘A’ League seriously here; if you’re not playing on the weekend you’re playing on the Monday night.
“Overall it’s been a good campaign. Tonight was a competitive game, as was the semi-final, and it’s a good standard of rugby for the boys to be playing.”
