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The road to the Prem playoffs continues to be full of compelling twists and turns. For a while it seemed Exeter might be about to be reeled in by a Bath side renowned for their finishing strength, only for second-half tries from Paul Brown-Bampoe, Len Ikitau and Campbell Ridl and a resilient defensive effort to steer the Chiefs to one of their more pleasing league wins of the season.

With Leicester and Saracens finishing strongly and only three regular season fixtures remaining this was a game the home side could ill afford to lose and that extra edge played a part against a Bath side still feeling the effects of their disappointing Champions Cup semi-final loss in Bordeaux. As the game wore on it was the Chiefs who grew in confidence and this result puts them in fourth place, five points clear of Bristol in fifth.

With a stiff north-easterly blowing down the ground Exeter had an eight point first-half cushion to work with but will be most pleased with the way they subsequently dug deep in a game once again notable for a number of head collision reviews. Bath’s second row forward Quinn Roux was shown a 20-minute red early in the game and the visitors never quite regained their equilibrium.

Exeter’s director of rugby Rob Baxter had instructed his team to go out and play rather than tighten up and allow self-doubt to creep into play. They duly followed his advice, making the most of the conditions to build a handy 13-0 lead inside the opening quarter through two Henry Slade penalties and a close-range rumble from Josh Iosefa-Scott, converted by Harvey Skinner.

The early departure of Roux was another significant moment, the referee Karl Dickson firmly of the opinion that the South African had a clear line of sight when he charged through and clashed heads with Slade when a lower body position would have avoided that possibility. After all the fuss about the unpenalised head contacts in Bordeaux, an early 20-minute red card against Bath was more than a touch ironic.

Bath did eventually get on the board through a strong maul score finished by the former Chief Dan Frost but Finn Russell’s conversion attempt bounced away off a post and Bath spent the majority of rest of the half penned in their own territory. The only upside was that Exeter were not quite clicking in attack and the visitors would have settled for the 13-5 interval scoreline with the wind now at their backs.

The game’s momentum shifted, however, early in the second half. First Tom de Glanville was shown a yellow card for a one-handed knockdown with two Chiefs players licking their lips out wide and then Exeter exploited their numerical advantage to work Brown-Bampoe over on the left. Suddenly the margin was 13 points and the challenge that little bit steeper.

Cue the arrival of Bath’s ‘bomb squad’ en masse off the bench. With Ridl also departing to the sin-bin and the visiting scrum starting to prosper it appeared to be distinctly ominous for the home supporters when Sam Underhill spun off the side of another advancing maul to score in the right corner and Russell slid over a beautiful conversion.

Slade, against the wind, could not do likewise with a penalty attempt towards the end of the third quarter but 14-man Exeter refused to lie down. A line break from Dafydd Jenkins took them to within inches of the Bath line and, from a resultant tap penalty, smart hands sent the lurking Ikitau over. By the time Ridl subsequently cruised over for the bonus point and Slade took his tally to 13 points no one was talking about the wind any longer.