And yes, for another year, Gloucester's wait for an elusive first win on the banks of the Avon continue. On Friday night they emerged from virtually within the Avon itself with a losing bonus point - a feat not without its potential bonuses in the months to come.

They will of course curse themselves for not having won but they should take any number of positives from this performance - togetherness, work ethic, outstanding defence and a brilliant try - but Bath were fully deserving of their victory.

Not only did they monopolise the territory virtually throughout but some of their first-half rugby was a joy. After referee Wayne Barnes had taken all the time he needed to ensure the pitch was playable following the mother and father of all down-pours, the game started 15 minutes late and given the horrendous conditions, we got a far better game than was reasonably expected.

Some of Bath's close-quarter ball control and off-loading was remarkable in the first-half. The foundations were laid through an unerring performance from their forwards, where Michael Lipman, Lee Mears. Steve Borthwick and Danny Grewcock stood out.

And with Butch James and Olly Barkley playing the sort of football that was at times jaw-dropping, the home side dominated both territory and possession. If their invention was to be admired, their distributional games were even better and it took every ounce of Gloucester's resolve to stay in the contest for as long as they did.

For that they could thank some teak-tough defending from the likes of Alex Brown, Olivier Azam and the brilliant Mike Tindall. At times Gloucester's scrambling defence defied logic such was their work-rate and stamina.

Given the amount of ball Bath remorseless drove around the fringes, a lesser side may well have crumbled but the result was in the balance until the very end. Gloucester are a cool bunch these days and we learned a lot about their desire and togetherness in adversity in a game a notch or two higher than Bristol's visit to Kingsholm the week previously.

The result cuts Gloucester's lead at the top of the table to two points but they have equally significant matches on the horizon in the next month or so which is why this game should not be viewed in isolation.

The only points in the first period was a Barkley penalty - the centre glancing over his kick after Marco Bortolami had been penalised for 'lazy running' and it hardly justified Bath's dominance. It was in fact their first-half display that set the platform for the victory because they simply denied Gloucester the ball for so long.

It took 10 minutes for Bath to score the try that split the game open in the second period. Initially, it appeared that Gloucester's remarkable defence, led by Brown but involving all the forwards at a series of rucks, would hold the home side out and when Olivier Azam booted the ball clear the danger seemed to have passed.

However, Bath regrouped and Nick Abendanon picked out a lovely cross-field kick over the head of James Bailey and Joe Maddock slid in to score. Barkley swung over the conversion and Bath were 10-0 ahead.

It was the crucial moment. Gloucester's game is based around team movement and in such heavy conditions it was virtually impossible to launch any attack of note. Head coach Dean Ryan made three changes in the hope it would provide a moment of inspiration and with 20 minutes to go, they found it.

Chris Paterson was introduced for Ryan Lamb at stand-off and when Willie Walker had taken a safe catch and won a penalty, Rory Lawson and Brown were involved in a move to the right and Paterson was able to pick of Shaun Berne in midfield and race 50 metres untouched for a sensational individual score.

Had his conversion attempt not bounced back out off a post the final quarter would have been a far more frantic affair.

The score was the moment that could have swung the game, could have opened the door on a remarkable comeback but Gloucester simply didn't have the platform to launch a sustained period of pressure.

Thanks to their line-out operation and heavy-duty driving around the fringes, Bath once again retained possession of the ball, drove deep into Gloucester territory and closed out the game to cut Gloucester's lead at the top of the table.