Having won there only once in recent seasons, it was perhaps asking too much that Quins should break their poor away run with a win at Bath, and with the home side coming out with all guns blazing in the opening 20 minutes, the visitors worst fears were realised.

From the kick-off Bath put eight phases of play together in an impressive opening that saw them keep possession for 97 seconds, before a knock-on in sight of the Quins line gave the visitors their first touch of the ball.

Iain Balshaw almost continued his impressive scoring run (four tries in three appearances) with the opening score after barely three minutes, only for Quins scrum half Nick Duncombe to haul down the full back with a very smart tackle close to the line.

Olly Barkley, who had almost put Balshaw away, kicked Bath ahead with a penalty from in front of the posts as Quins transgressed following a lineout inside their twenty-two, but the visitors hit-back and should have grabbed a try two minutes later.

Balshaw's attempted chip and chase was gathered by Nathan Williams, who almost broke clear, but his off-load to Tani Fuga, with no-one left to cover and with players in support, appeared to have fashioned a certain try.

Unfortunately the prospect of a score proved too much for Fuga who missed his intended receiver, Will Greenwood, with a wild pass that whistled straight past him and into touch with the line beckoning.

Paul Burke did level for Quins a few minutes later, but this proved only a temporary respite as within minutes the home side grabbed the opening try that confirmed Bath's superiority and left Quins once again chasing the game.

Barkley again initiated the move with a kick to the left that the athletic Balshaw snapped up. Gareth Cooper and Barkley were quickly up in support before Kevin Maggs offered himself into the line, and the Ireland centre shimmied his way past Pat Sanderson and Burke to touch down by the posts.

Barkley, whose partnership with Cooper always asked questions of the Quins defence, easily converted the score and added a penalty shortly afterwards to stretch the home lead to 13-3.

Quins continued to probe for a breakthrough, and a penalty gave them a lineout deep inside the home teams twenty-two. Although the visitors inched forward they lost possession in the tackle and the danger was cleared.



The visitors were thwarted in their attempts to get back into the match when Laurent Gomez was harshly penalised for an alleged stamping at a ruck, with Quins looking to press home an advantage out wide, and whilst ten points was not an insurmountable deficit the visitors fell further behind in first half stoppage time.

Nathan Williams collected a loose ball and was looking for a gap to create an attack, only to be hunted down by Gavin Thomas, and with the Quins full back penalised for not releasing, Barkley struck a 48 metre penalty through the uprights for what was to prove a winning 16-3 advantage.

Burke went close for the visitors with a drop goal attempt soon after the restart that would have given the visitors some encouragement, but Quins went into the break wondering how they could fashion a try with their lineout failing to provide them with an efficient attacking platform.

Burke narrowed the gap with two penalties in the opening eleven minutes that took the visitors within a score with plenty of time on the clock, but once again had to be grateful for a timely Duncombe tackle as Tom Voyce looked to exploit a gap in the Quins defence.

Unable to generate any momentum despite masses of set-piece ball, Quins were finally put out of their misery four minutes from time when Barkley clipped a ball over the Quins defence for Mike Tindall to catch and sprint clear before performing an outrageous dive by the posts for Bath's second try.

Barkley's conversion meant that Quins needed a converted score to at least save a bonus point, but despite over nine minutes of stoppage time, the sin-binning of Tom Voyce, and a series of scrums close to the Bath line Quins went tryless for the third time in four matches.

A poor display, with the game decided by Bath's skill and passion in the opening quarter that once again leaves Quins asking questions about their season.