Aviva Premiership: London Wasps beat Bath for nine in a row at home
A sublime individual finish from Christian Wade was the highlight of Wasps' 29-15 victory over Bath at Adams Park.
Last Updated: 06/01/13 5:43pm
Wade's try gave Wasps the lead for the first time at the end of the first half and they retained it thanks to 17 points from the boot of Stephen Jones and a late score from Chris Bell.
The victory was Wasps' sixth in their last eight games and ninth in a row in High Wycombe, and takes them into the top four play-off places.
But it was Bath who made the fast start - in fact the fastest in the Premiership this season - as Nick Abendanon collected Stephen Jones' kick, dodged inside Tom Varndell and handed off Joe Simpson before racing in to score with just 25 seconds on the clock.
Jones quickly got Wasps back in the game with a penalty but on six minutes Varndell was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle and in his absence Bath took advantage.
They got a maul rolling 20 metres to inside the Wasps 22 before Michael Claasens raced off the back and scrambled in at the corner where Varndell would have been, Stephen Donald converting for a 12-3 lead.
A couple of Jones penalties and Dom Day's sin-binning for taking a man out in the air at the lineout kept Wasps in the hunt, as did Donald missing an easy penalty chance, before Wade's moment of magic.
A handling move had crossed the width of the pitch and there did not seem a great deal on for the winger as he collected the ball in front of a while wall of defenders. But he weaved his way around Stuart Hooper and Donald and skinned Tom Biggs twice before touching down, with Jones converting for a 16-12 half-time lead.
Bath also made a fast start to the second half and a powerful, driving move got its reward in a penalty from Tom Heathcote.
But Bath paid dearly for indiscipline inside their own half as Jones knocked over two penalties to stretch the lead.
The killer sting came on 72 minutes when Elliott Daly chipped over Abendanon's head and although he was cynically tripped by the Bath man - who later received a yellow card, Joe Simpson was fastest to the loose ball and he popped up a quick pass for Bell to score.