Bath were the only side Exeter had not defeated since their promotion to the Premiership, a draw breaking a run of nine defeats, many of them as desperately close as the 11th encounter. It swayed like the goalposts the previous night, when they had snapped in the fierce wind and had to be rewelded, but Bath's cutting edge merited victory in a flowing game.
The pattern of the match followed the course of the fixture, the Chiefs dominating possession and territory but not the scoreboard. Exeter laid siege while Bath relied on sniper fire to maintain their drive for a place in the play-offs. If they are to do more than finish in the top four, they will need to address set-piece shortcomings.
Bath had until then absorbed the home side's blows with little discomfort, scoring with some clever jabs. The match was mostly played in benign conditions, sun replacing the morning and overnight storms, and the pitch had been covered all week. Exeter had won one of their previous six Premiership matches, endangering their Heineken Cup status, while Bath had lost one of 18 fixtures in all competitions. The Chiefs were not short of confidence, attacking with gusto and in waves, but their game was based on structure, probing for weakness.
Bath, who struggled in the lineout and had a penchant for keeping the ball in the scrum despite a lack of superiority there, had a midfield triangle Exeter struggled to read. George Ford, Kyle Eastmond and Ollie Devoto showed that in an era when big is considered bountiful, there is a place for thinkers.
The opening try on 26 minutes was typical of Bath. Ford attacked the line and dummied to Eastmond so that when he did pass to the centre, the defence were in disarray. Eastmond found Devoto just inside the Exeter half and he twice came off his left foot to wrong-foot first Phil Dollman and then Luke Arscott and outpace the covering defence.
The try put Bath 10-3 ahead after Gareth Steenson and Ford had exchanged penalties and when Devoto again sidestepped his way into the home 25, Matt Banahan made an angled run but the centre offered a dummy Dollman had no intention of buying and lost the ball in contact.
Dollman kicked downfield, Horacio Agulla held on to the ball after being tackled with no one behind him and Steenson took the three points. Five minutes later, Exeter ended the half by kicking a penalty to touch and driving a maul. The two Daves, Lewis and Ewers, were held up on the line before Ben White found a way through.
Exeter maintained their dominance after the break. Steenson kicked his third penalty as Bath's indiscipline proved costly. The final act of the England prop David Wilson, making his first start since the home victory over Exeter at the end of November, was to give away the three points by collapsing a scrum.
At 16-10 ahead, Exeter looked in control. Bath, starved of possession, became frayed by desperation but two moments of quality put them back in the lead. First, after Anthony Watson had been foiled by Jack Yeandle's ankle tap, Micky Young's pass allowed Eastmond to step between Exeter's second rows on his way to the line.
Then, 10 minutes later, the replacement wing, Nick Abendanon, chipped to the line after a swift handling move and beat Luke Arscott to the bounce. Bath were eight points to the good with 17 minutes to go but, as they set about protecting their lead, Exeter attacked with purpose and Ian Whitten took advantage of the visitors' lack of line speed in defence to set up a tense finish.
The Chiefs continued to attack in waves and Bath's saviour was an unlikely one. Gavin Henson has played a bit-part role since his move from London Welsh in the summer. When he replaced Devoto 12 minutes from the end, it was his sixth Premiership appearance for the club and his fourth from the bench.
He struck four minutes from time. Exeter, trailing by a point, were camped in Bath's 22, maintaining a proximity to the goalposts. The visitors had already conceded 12 penalties but Henson made sure the tally did not reach 13 by ripping the ball from a maul and Abendanon kicked it upfield for Ford to confirm victory with his second penalty.
