Bath 27 Braves 32

Bath United 27

Exeter Braves 32

Mark Stevens at the Recreation Ground

Kai Horstmann's last-gasp touchdown ensured Exeter Braves collected a third successive Aviva Premiership A League victory over local rivals Bath at the Recreation Ground.

In a pulsating encounter in the Roman City, the experienced Exeter No.8 helped himself to a try double, as did winger Fetu'u Vainikolo, to put the Braves top of the Southern Group.

Fly-half Ceri Sweeney landed a further 12 points for the visitors, who were made to fight all the way by a Bath side, who themselves claimed tries from Tom Biggs and Saeed Agboke (2), plus four penalties from Tom Heathcote.

Having claimed victories over London Wasps and London Irish in their two previous outings, it was another powerful line-up assembled by the Braves. Welsh international Sweeney again skippered the side from fly-half, whilst there was plenty of experience around him in the form of Don Armand, James Phillips, Horstmann, Sireli Naqelevuki and Vainikolo.

Likewise, Bath were also able to parade a plethora of seasoned campaigners in their side, which was headed up by Welshman Gavin Henson in the No.10 jersey.

Early on and it was the Braves who launched the game's first attack, flanker Justin Blanchet going within inches of the line following a well constructed driving maul from the visitors.

However, as the Braves continued to push forward Bath's Will Skuse picked off a pass from Will Chudley before tearing down field. As the Exeter cover scurried back at a rate of knots, the home flanker did well to offload to the onrushing Biggs.

The flame-haired winger tore down the left flank at speed, but the Braves were there in numbers to foil his raid.

The same, however, could not be said moments later when Biggs was the beneficiary of some sustained home pressure, finishing off in the corner following good link-up play from Henson and centre Tom Heathcote for the game's opening try.

To their credit the Braves responded brightly to the setback and having laid siege inside the Bath 22 for a sustained period, their efforts were duly rewarded when Sweeney slotted a straight forward penalty after the home side had failed to release at the tackle.

At the other end, Bath threatened once more when Henson's looping pass to the left released Biggs, who in turn shipped the ball inside to full-back Marcus Beer who was denied a certain try by an excellent saving tackle from Sam Blanchet.

And having survived that attack, the Braves then hit Bath with a try of their own just before the half-hour mark. The impressive Chudley was the instigator as his quick tap penalty released Vainikolo into space. With plenty still to do, the Tongan international backed himself to go half the field, stepping inside two Bath defenders before outpacing Saeed Agboke to score under the posts.

Sweeney obliged with the additional extras before adding a second penalty after Bath were penalised for popping up at a scrum midway inside their own half.

It was Bath, though, who had the final say of the half as winger Agboke was able to squeeze his way over in the right-hand corner following a well constructed attack down the right flank. Henson again failed with the touchline conversion, pushing his kick wide of the far post.

HALF TIME BATH UNITED 10 EXETER BRAVES 13

Bath introduced a clutch of fresh faces during the interval and the fresh impetus soon had the desired effect as parity was restored early in the half when Scottish international Heathcote landed a routine penalty after the Braves were adjudged to have strayed offside inside their own 22.

Immediately, though, the Braves kicked back into action and were rewarded with their second converted try of the night. Determined work up front from Armand, Phillips and the imposing Will Carrick-Smith saw them punch their way into enemy territory from which experienced No.8 Horstmann was able to burrow over.

It was entertaining stuff from both sides as the end-to-end nature of the contest kept the healthy Rec crowd royally entertained. However, the Braves were falling foul of referee Lewis and two quickfire penalties from Heathcote allowed the home side to draw within a point of their Westcountry counterparts on the hour mark.

With their tails up, Bath were now pushing hard in attack and they reclaimed the lead when the dangerous Agboke showed some deft footwork to round Stu Townsend and cross for his second of the night.

Undeterred, the Braves summoned a response of their own as a slick backs move cut open the home defence, allowing the dangerous Vainikolo to claim a third converted try as he raced over with a one-handed finish.

Again it was a slender advantage for the Devonians, who then preceded to shoot themselves in the foot when replacement Rob Langley took out Heathcote as he attempted a kick down field. The offence was spotted by the officials who awarded the penalty where the Scotsman's kick had landed. The centre brushed himself down before dispatching a lengthy kick to tie the game up once more with just minutes remaining.

The Braves, as we have seen in the past, never know when they are beaten and with the last play of the game, they worked the ball from right to left through a plethora of hands to send Horstmann over for the crucial bonus point score. Sweeney's unblemished kicking record sadly fell at the last, but it did not matter as the win had been secured in dramatic fashion.

United: M Beer; S Agboke, B Williams, T Heathcote, T Biggs (G Trick h/t); G Henson (P Lavrick h/t), M Young (M Roberts h/t); C Beech, T Dunn (T Woolstencroft h/t), K Palma-Newport (capt, A Jamieson 51); W Spencer (T Ellis 31), C Ewels; W Skuse, M Gilbert, C Fearns (M Northcote-Green 31).

Tries - Biggs, Agboke (2); Penalties - Heathcote (4)

Braves: J Arnott (J Forrester 68); F Vainikolo, A Ross, S Naqelevuki (T Holdsworth 31), S Blanchet; C Sweeney (capt), W Chudley (S Townsend 52); K Davies, J Innard (G Bateman 49), A Brown; W Carrick-Smith, D Armand; J Phillips, J Blanchet (R Langley 55), K Horstmann.

Tries - Vainikolo (2), Horstmann (2); Conversions - Sweeney (3); Penalties - Sweeney (2)

Referee: S Lewis