Bath kept their Heineken Cup quarter-final hopes alive with a 25-19 bonus point victory over Glasgow in their Pool 5 clash at Firhill.
Matt Banahan inflicted another dose of euro heartbreak on gutsy Glasgow with a try double just when the Warriors had looked capable of snatching pride-boosting revenge for the previous weekend.
Glasgow had suffered a crushing blow in the build-up to the kick-off when chief dangerman Thom Evans was forced out of the tie with an ankle injury. Evans had bagged a hat-trick of tries to earn the man-of-the-match prize against Bath at The Rec. His late withdrawal resulted in a call-up for Hefin O'Hare, with new Argentinian recruit Jose Piossek filling the bench berth.
The action was disjointed in the opening sparring session with the recalled Scotland playmaker Dan Parks swapping penalties with opposite number Butch James. And James was to remain in the spotlight for varying reasons over the following few minutes.
First, the South African World Cup hero unleashed a perfectly-weighted cross-kick for Banahan to claim the first touchdown. James was wide with the angled conversion - then committed a fearful blunder to present Glasgow with a try at the other end. He lost control when under no significant pressure, allowing Colin Gregor to pounce from close quarters.
The scrum-half hacked the ball over the line and followed up to get the vital touch and the home fans roared their approval as Parks banged over the conversion to put his team ahead. Even better was to come for the Warriors when Parks confidently added a penalty.
They had to change their formation on the half-hour mark when Piossek replaced winger Lome Fa'atau, who had taken a knock. Both teams carved out further try chances in the approach to the break, but defences were on top.
Bath looked more spirited after the restart and it was no surprise when they created a fine second score. Following a series of patient and well-controlled phases, centre Shaun Berne was in the right place at the right time to finish in style and tie the contest. But Parks immediately reclaimed the advantage for the Warriors with his third penalty.
As in last weekend's tussle, play was flowing from end to end and Bath seized the initiative again midway through the half through the bulky Banahan. But a high challenge by James on Max Evans gave sub Ruaridh Jackson the penalty. Then came the moment the Glasgow fans were fearing as Joe Maddock skidded over for the clincher - James finding his boot form to land the goal.
Bath coach Steve Meehan believes the win has given his outfit a great chance of reaching the knockout stages - but admitted they will have to retain their focus for the clash with the Dragons. "We had more control of the game this time round compared to last week's match at The Rec. But Glasgow are a very, very good side and any team who fails to give them due respect will come unstuck.
"We now have a long wait for the Newport meeting and it will be a key fixture for us. It is up in the air who will qualify from this group, but with our injury situation improving all the time, I have to be confident about our prospects of moving forward."
Deflated Glasgow supremo Sean Lineen admitted his side failed to do themselves justice saying, "You can't give a team as strong as them that amount of ball and expect to beat them. We never established a platform and in the second half we were unable to create a meaningful try opportunity.
"We were buzzing at half-time, but we didn't win enough possession after the restart to mount any real threat. Our scrum was not as good as it should have been and at times the lineout did not function. When we did get the ball, we couldn't keep it long enough to put Bath under pressure."
Glasgow Warriors: B Stortoni, L Fa'atau (J Nunez Piossek 28), M Evans, A Henderson, H O'Hare, D Parks [capt] (R Jackson 60), C Gregor (S Pinder 60), J Va'a (M Low 60), F Thomson (E Milligan 60), M Low (K Tkachuk 41), T Barker (O Palepoi 66), D Turner, K Brown, J Barclay, J Beattie (C Forrester 73)
Bath Rugby: N Abendanon, J Maddock, S Berne (A Crockett 57), E Fuimaono, M Banahan, B James, M Claassens, D Barnes, P Dixon (L Mears 48), M Stevens (D Bell 72), J Harrison (S Hooper 67), D Grewcock, A Beattie (J Faamatuainu 57), M Lipman [capt], D Browne
Man of the Match: J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors)
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)
Attendance: 3,306
