Last season, Bath Rugby were able to vent their frustration over an away loss at Sale by tackling a cross-dressing pitch invader.
Due to the stewards' staggering degree of inactivity when a lanky fellow in a Goldilocks costume made his way onto the Edgeley Park pitch, Olly Barkley provided his own inimitable piece of crowd control by picking the bloke up and putting him on his backside.
It was a good tackle, too. A strong leg-drive from Barks ensured that Goldi went backwards at quite some rate. It was probably Bath's best piece of play of the evening.
Barkley's frustration back then was due to Bath squandering a chance of pulling off a last-gasp dart into Heineken Cup qualification. That defeat condemned Bath to another season away from European club rugby's top table.
The situation is not quite so clear-cut this season – Bath still have time to steal a spot that will secure them a place in next season's Heineken, but the frustration in the Bath camp was still apparent on Friday evening after another away loss to Sale.
There was no Goldilocks to dump tackle but Bath head coach Gary Gold was able to use the post-match press conference to let off a little steam in a controlled manner.
Gold suggested that all journalists would now be writing off Bath's season. But his tone indicated he'd very much enjoy being in that position, with his back to the wall and the doubters shaking their heads.
No doubt Gold would rather not be in the southern reaches of mid-table; far better to be looking down from the lofty pinnacle of Saracens, who are now five points clear at the top of the Premiership.
But if there's a man who fancies his chances of navigating his way out of a tight corner, I'd suggest Gold is just such a person.
However, there is one forbidding statistic that is not in his favour.
Bath's solitary away victory this season was at Worcester on the opening day of the season – and even that was due to a last-minute penalty which the referee assessors subsequently declared to have been mistakenly awarded.
And if Bath want to clamber their way into contention for Heineken Cup qualification, then they will in all likelihood need to win at least one of their two remaining away matches - against gravity-defying Harlequins and high-flying Sarries.
Bath's away form in the Premiership has been their undoing this season. Of the teams beneath them, they have failed to beat London Irish, London Welsh and Sale on the road.
Such a record is not the record of a side deserving of a Heineken Cup place but an away win against Quins or Saracens would comprise a praiseworthy act of redemption.
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