MATCH REPORT: Harlequins 23 Bath Rugby 9
Bath Rugby's faint top-four hopes were extinguished as second-half scores from Danny Care and Ugo Monye sealed victory for Aviva Premiership champions Harlequins at The Stoop.
Quins went into the game on the back of four straight defeats and trailed 9-6 at the break after Stephen Donald and Ollie Devoto slotted three penalties between them for the visitors.
Difficult conditions made handling and running rugby difficult as the respective boots of Quins' Ben Botica and Donald dominated the opening 40 minutes.
Quins faltered early on and Bath seized the early advantage.
World Cup-winner Donald, who will leave The Rec in the summer, put Bath ahead after five minutes and Devoto – filling in for Nick Abendanon at full-back - stretched the advantage to six points from distance.
Early injuries to George Robson in the second row and Matt Hopper in the backline inside 24 minutes seemed to disrupt Quins' set piece and also attacking thrust.
The departure of centre Matt Hopper to injury brought the arrival of Botica and the Quins' replacement struck twice with two penalties inside four minutes to drag the home side level.
But Donald had the last word of the half, striking his second penalty of the game to give Bath the interval lead.
Conor O'Shea must have read his men the riot act at the break as the Quins side that emerged for the second 40 minutes seemed unrecognisable from the first-half version.
It took just five minutes for England scrum-half Care to burrow over for a decisive and opportunist score, while Botica added the extras to put Quins ahead for the first time at 13-3
Botica continued his fine form with the boot as he stretched the hosts' lead to seven points with a well-struck penalty on 56 minutes.
In difficult conditions both sides continued to play conservative rugby, with Donald and Nick Evans peppering the respective back-lines with high balls.
With attacking rugby at a premium, the next score seemed certain to come from a defensive lapse and so it proved as Bath's Olly Woodburn spilled a high ball under no pressure.
Birthday-boy Monye could not believe his luck as the bouncing ball spun towards the Bath in-goal area, giving the England international the easiest of touch-downs.
The decision was referred to the television match official to check the grounding but Monye's score stood, with Botica again adding the extras.
Bath were unable to break through in a forward-dominated final ten minutes and the result saw them slip out of the automatic Heineken Cup qualifying places with games against the top two, Leicester and Saracens, to round off their campaign.
HARLEQUINS: Brown, Williams, Lowe, Hopper (Botica 24), Smith (Monye 50), Evans, Care (Dickson 59), Marler (Lambert 52), Gray (Buchanan 57), Johnston (Collier 63), Kohn, Robson (Matthews 16), Guest (Wallace 63), Robshaw, Easter.
Scorers - Tries: Care, Monye, Conversions: Botica 2, Penalties: Botica 3.
BATH RUGBY: Devoto (Cuthbert 53), Agulla, Rokoduguni, Eastmond (Heathcote 59), Woodburn, Donald, Claassens (Stringer 56), James (Catt 48), Batty (Guinazu 56), Wilson (Perenise 55), Hooper (Spencer 69), Attwood, Louw, Gilbert, Taylor (Mercer 63).
Scorers - Penalties: Donald 2, Devoto.
Referee: Wayne Barnes.
