Glasgow Warriors suffered a bonus point defeat at the hands of Bath today in the second of two back-to-back Heineken Cup encounters between the pair.

With Glasgow now out of the race for the quarter-finals, they now turn their focus back onto league duties where they sit second in the table and face city rivals Edinburgh in the two David Lloyd 1872 Cup clashes on Boxing Day (at Murrayfield, kick-off 7:30pm) and on Friday 2 January (at Firhill, kick-off 3pm).

Warriors head coach, Sean Lineen, said: “We made it easy for them. It was very disappointing. You can’t give a team like Bath that much ball. If the platform’s not there, you’re going to struggle.

“The guys were buzzing when we were 13-8 up at half-time. I can’t fault the players for their effort but they’re bitterly disappointed in the dressing room right now.”

The Warriors conceded three early points as Bath’s World Cup winning stand-off, Butch James, slotted a penalty. Dan Parks cancelled James’ effort moments later with a penalty of his own.

However, it was Bath who responded first with a try from their giant winger Matt Banahan. A cross-field kick from James saw Banahan tower over Lome Fa’atau to collect and touch down. James’ conversion drifted wide of the posts.

Colin Gregor was then able to capitalise on a fumble from James, booting the loose ball ahead and chasing before pouncing on the ball over the line. Parks converted.

Parks then further stretched Glasgow’s lead with a penalty in the 18th minute. The score at half time remained 13-8, despite a period of fast-paced, entertaining rugby from both sides.

After the break, the scoreboard once again broke even. After a series of pick-and-goes round the fringes of the breakdown, Bath generated an overlap on the right flank where the ball was then spun out to centre Shaun Berne who crossed the whitewash.

Following another penalty from Parks, Banahan crossed for his second try. As if Glasgow were lacking players in defence, the ball was simply shipped wide where Banahan found himself in space to stroll over.

The game then hung by a single point when a high tackle from Butch James on Max Evans resulted in a penalty which substitute Ruaridh Jackson was able to convert.

However, Bath dealt a crucial blow with only seven minutes left on the clock when winger Joseph Maddock went through to score the visitors bonus point try. James converted.

Glasgow Warriors: Bernardo Stortoni; Lome Fa’atau, Max Evans, Andrew Henderson, Hefin O’Hare; Dan Parks CAPTAIN, Colin Gregor; Justin Va’a, Fergus Thomson, Moray Low, Tim Barker, Dan Turner, Kelly Brown, John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie.
Substitutes: Jose Maria Nunez Piossek for Fa’atau (28mins), Kevin Tkachuk for Low (40mins), Eric Milligan for Thomson, Sam Pinder for Gregor and Ruaridh Jackson for Parks (all 60mins), Opeta Palepoi for Barker (66mins), Calum Forrester for Beattie (75mins),

Bath: Nick Abendanon; Joseph Maddock, Shaun Berne, Eliot Fuimaono-Sapolu, Matt Banahan; Butch James, Michael Claassens; David Barnes, Pieter Dixon, Matt Stevens, Justin Harrison, Danny Grewcock, Andy Beattie, Michael Lipman CAPTAIN, Dan Browne
Substitutes: Lee Mears, Duncan Bell, Stuart Hooper, Johnny Fa’amatuainu, Scott Bemand, Alex Crockett, Jack Cuthbert.