Leeds Carnegie were given a tough afternoon by Bath at the Recreation Ground as the home side went top of the Guinness Premiership with a 41-10 win.
Leeds made the worst possible start when they conceded a try inside the first minute. Bath had regained possession from the kick off and quick hands caught the visitors leaden-footed and winger Matt Banahan forced his way over in the corner. Olly Barkley added the conversion to make it 7-0.
Barkley made it 10-0 with a penalty after 8 minutes when Rhys Oakley was penalised for coming in from the wrong side and it appeared as if the gulf in the league table would be evident on the pitch.
However, Carnegie managed to compose themselves after that early set back and, whilst they were still doing the majority of defending, they did gain parity with Bath in several areas, most notably the scrum.
With ten minutes remaining the half Barkley and Alberto Di Bernardo traded penalties to make it 13-3. The Leeds score coming after a concerted period of pressure on the Bath line which was only halted by foul play by Steve Borthwick.
Leeds had to produce some tremendous defence to keep Bath out but it was worthwhile as they went in at half time just 10 points adrift. However, after such a mammoth effort there was always a nagging fear that that could take its toll later in the game.
As in the first half, Bath scored early from the kick off and again it was Banahan who was the man on the spot to finish off a flowing move. The chance was created by Andy Beattie as the move went 50 metres down field before the winger claimed his second try of the match. Barkley added the conversion to make it 20-3 after 44 minutes.
That score was the signal for Stuart Lancaster to bring on Adam Balding for his debut off the bench and the Gloucester loanee soon made an impact on his return to the South West with a couple of bullocking runs.
Again Leeds showed real spirit to come back from that set back and had chances to get back into the game. However, an attempted penalty from Di Bernardo from 53 metres out looked ambitious at best but risky against a Bath side that had shown a desire to attack into space. And so it was, the penalty attempt drifted wide of the posts and Bath poured forward in attack. Two minutes later and without a stoppage in play Butch James combined with Michael Claassens to send the latter over for a try between the posts.
Two minutes later Banaham completed his hat trick on the end of another quick counter attack to secure the bonus point for the home side and put them top of the Guinness Premiership. Barkley converted both tries to make it 34-3. 
Those fans who had made the long journey down from Headingley Carnegie were given something to cheer with ten minutes remaining when Tom Biggs became the club's second highest try scorer of all time when he collected a mis-kick by Joe Maddock before racing 50 metres to score. Di Bernardo added the conversion to make it 34-10.
However, someone inevitably Bath had the last word as Barkley capped a fine performance by kicking ahead for Nick Abendanon to touch down in the final second of the game. Barkley added the conversion to make the final score 41-10 to the hosts.
Bath: Abendanon, Maddock, Crockett, Barkley, Banahan, James, Claassens, Barnes, Mears, Stevens, Borthwick, Grewcock, Beattie, Lipman, Browne.
Replacements: Dixon for Mears (61), Ion for Barnes (61), Purdy for Grewcock (61), Faamatuainu for Beattie (61), Walshe for Claassens (65), Berne for Crockett (61), Higgins for Maddock (75), Purdy for Borthwick (BB6 rev 12)
Leeds Carnegie: Hinton, Satala, Vickerman, Blackett, Biggs, Di Bernardo, Bedford, MacDonald, Ma'asi, McGee, Hooper, Bouza, Dunbar, Clark, Oakley
Replacements: Cusack for McGee (59), Nilsen for Ma'asi (61), Paul for Dunbar (70), Balding for Clark (46), Brooks for Bedford (59), Hepworth for Blackett (61), Goodridge for Hinton (70), McGee for McDonald (70)
Referee: Dean Richards