Bath 10 Ulster 28

The Heineken Cup game between Bath and Ulster at The Recreation Ground, Bath, on Saturday Jan 23 2010.

Danny Grewcock's sending off at The Rec o Saturday afternoon hammered another conclusive nail into Bath's dreadful season.

Although the Guinness Premiership side showed a little greater ambition in the second half of this, their final Heineken Cup game of the season, Grewcock's gratuitous act of indiscipline capped yet another day of misery for coach Steve Meehan.

The former England lock reacted angrily to Stephen Ferris holding on to his foot seven minutes from the interval and duly drove his boot – onto the flailing arm of the Irish flanker.

Ironically, it was Ferris who was at the centre of the gouging row in December when Stade Francais pair Julien Dupuy and David Attoub were banned for 23 and 70 weeks respectively.

Referee Jerome Garces had little choice but to give Grewcock his marching orders – television replays proving it was an unnecessary act of total indiscipline.

As for the game, well, it was another defeat for Bath and a victory for Ulster that almost earned them a backdoor entry into the last eight of this year's competition.

However, in the end, a losing bonus point for Stade Francais in Edinburgh meant their brave effort counted for nothing in terms of their Heineken Cup season.

Now, they must wait until later today to see if they have picked up one of the three places in the quarter final of the Amlin Challenge Cup. It would be a deserved consolation for a side who have once again punched above their weight this season.

For Bath, well, it was another calamitous afternoon that should heap even greater pressure on Meehan and his coaching team. With the exception of one or two rare moments of satisfaction this season, it has been a shocking campaign and one that could get even worse.

The impending return of Butch James and Olly Barkley cannot come quick enough.

Three Nial O'Connor penalties to a try from Matt Banahan put Ulster in front before the interval and with a numerical advantage, they took control in the second half thanks to a virtuoso try from wing Andrew Trimble.

The Ireland win avoided four paper thin tackles on half way and then duly outstripped Joe Maddock for a try of real quality. O'Connor sliced his conversion from the touchline, but four minutes later, it was Ulster celebrating again.

Simon Danielli fielded turnover ball inside his own 22 and after chipping and chasing 60 metres upfield, the Scotland international drew Maddock into the tackle and gave a scoring pass to the grateful centre Darren Cave.

Little responded with a penalty for Bath 25 minutes from time but such was the desire of a now rampant Ulster side, that it came as no surprise when the visitors extended their lead two minutes from time courtesy of Paddy Wallace.

O'Connor converted to take them within touching distance but needing a miracle at Murrayfield and a fourth try for themselves, they finally ran out of time and must now wait to see if their European season will carry on in the second tier.

Match details

Scoring sequence: 0-3 O'Connor pen; 0-6 O'Connor; 5-6 Banahan try, 7-6 Little con; 7-9 O'Connor pen; 7-14 Trimble try; 7-19 Cave try, 7-21 O'Connor con; 10-21 Little pen; 10-26 Wallace try, 10-28 O'Connor con

Bath Rugby: J Maddock (J Cuthbert 74), M Stephenson, M Carraro, S Hape, M Banahan, N Little (R Davis 75), M Claassens (Capt S Bemand 75)), D Flaxman (D Barnes 61), L Mears (P Dixon 61), D Wilson (A Jarvis 74), D Grewcock, S Hooper, A Beattie (P Short 47), J Salvi, L Watson (J Fa'amatuainu 69)
Ulster Rugby: J Smith, A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, S Danielli, N O'Connor, I Boss (C Willis 74), T Court (B Young 74), N Brady (A Kyriacou 63), B Botha, D Tuohy, E O'Donoghue (R Caldwell 66), S Ferris (T Anderson 74), D Pollock, C Henry (Capt)
Referee: J Garces (France)
Attendance: 10,845