Fairytale return for Catt

Bath 24 Montauban 18

It is rare for the man of the match to have spent the first 54 minutes of play in a tracksuit on the replacements' bench, but no one begrudged Mike Catt his award.

Bath's inspiration ended two months of hamstrung inactivity by scoring a try with his second touch and, in a humdinger of a finish, was central to his side eking out the points they needed to qualify for a semi-final in April against Saracens or Newcastle.

Catt's pleasure at ensuring an English finalist was in stark contrast to the new blow suffered by his international and club team-mate Iain Balshaw. The young full-back was a picture of misery early in the second half, walking slowly off with one arm cradled on the other, having damaged his right shoulder. Balshaw faces at least a fortnight out, possibly much longer; a rotten development after injuries to his ankle and other shoulder kept him out for seven months last year.

While Balshaw faces a scan today to determine the extent of his setback – less than a month shy of the Six Nations when he was a strong tip for a return to Clive Woodward's selection – Bath will reflect on a close-run thing against unfancied opponents in their first European quarter-final.

Going into the last quarter, the aggregate score was 45-all, with the try count also locked at four apiece over two legs. Montauban had created two classic tries from deep to lead 15-6 at half-time, in addition to their three-point lead from the previous week's 27-24 win in France.

Things got worse for Bath when Matt Perry was sent to the sin-bin at the start of the second half. But they kept parity during Perry's absence – a penalty goal apiece for Pierre-Henri Vermis and Olly Barkley – and when Montauban's flanker Alexandre Colomé was dispatched for 10 minutes for a technical offence, Bath exacted a far more telling punishment.

Catt had been on the field mere seconds when he knifed through a couple of tackles in the Montauban 22, and Barkley's failure to convert the try when the ball fell over merely added to the tension.

And in their next attack, Bath scored again. Perry launched a glorious break-out from the home 22 with a chip-and-chase, and Catt kept the move going with a superb take of a pass at full stretch. He popped up again on the Montauban 22, along with Kevin Maggs, to send Nathan Thomas through to the posts. This time Barkley converted, and it was all-square overall.

In the first half, Bath had sorely lacked a forceful, ball-carrying back-rower in the mould of Montauban's Faycal Boukanoucha. The Moroccan helped set up the visitors' first try, by Pierre Bondouy after 25 minutes, and gorged on scraps of loose ball. When Vermis got a second try from a sweeping move, and converted, Bath were in trouble.

"We looked each other in the eyes at half-time," said the co-coach Mike Foley, "and talked about our credibility as a group." Well, the group came through, narrowly, in the frantic closing stages. Vermis hit the bar with a drop goal, then Barkley missed two penalties from his preferred side as a left-footed kicker. The Bath No 10 had ceded the calling of the shots to his senior colleague Catt, but he was not about to hand over the kicking tee. Barkley lined up a third attempt in six minutes from a similar position, with "79" shining brightly on the clock, and the ball sailed sweetly inside the left upright.

Hardly a gentle run-in for Bath before they face North-ampton in the PowergenCup, and Leicester and Gloucester in the Premiership, in the next three weeks.

Bath: I Balshaw (T Voyce, 52); M Perry, K Maggs, A Crockett (M Catt, 54), S Danielli; O Barkley, G Cooper; S Emms, J Humphreys (L Mears, h-t), A Galasso (J Mallett, 51), S Borthwick, D Grewcock (capt), A Beattie (G Thomas, 79), N Thomas, A Vander (J Scaysbrook, 57).

Montauban: P Bondouy; B Beyret, P-H Vermis (J Fauré, 78), J Sieurac, S Durand; P Gordo (S Fauqué, h-t), C Garcia; C Vancheri (M Ben Bouhout, 45), N Grelon (A Gaubert, 67), P Martinez (B Mololo, 61), G Jeannard, S Sergueev (capt), A Colomé, F Soldan, F Boukanoucha (F Marechal, 73).

Referee: H Watkins (Wales).