Bath dominated possession in the lineout

Mike Tindall won valuable yards with a surging run and Mark Gabey was on hand to dive on the loose ball near the posts after his attempted pass came off the feet of hooker Andy Long.

Barkley added the simple conversion; and a penalty five minutes took the score to 3-13.

Bath's second try arrived soon later when winger Kevin Maggs finished a fine counter-attack.

Swansea captain Scott Gibbs lost possession in midfield and his opposite centre Tindall took full advantage to burst through the home defence and deliver a perfectly timed pass for Maggs to run clear.

Thomas kept Swansea in the game with another penalty, but attempts to build attacking platforms were often ruined by the inaccurate lineout throws of stand-in hooker Johnny Marsters.

Swansea attempted to lift the tempo with a succession of quickly taken penalties as the half came to an end, but the Bath tacklers maintained their dominance to protect a 6-18 lead.

Bath's Gavin Thomas is caught by Rhodri Jones

The home side came out determined in the second half, but they continued to search in vain for that spark of inspiration to lift the spirits on a gloomy night at St Helens.

Bath's continued indiscipline continued to offer Swansea hope, and Thomas brought the scores closer after 50 minutes with another successful kick at goal.

Scott Gibbs briefly brought the game to life with one of his trademark surging midfield runs, but subsequent bad handling again thwarted Swansea's try-scoring efforts.

Another Thomas penalty on the hour mark closed the gap to 12-18, but Barkley's successful kick cancelled out that score four minutes later.

Bath's replacement prop Dan Dorsey was lucky to escape with just a yellow card after a vicious high tackle on winger Shaun Payne, but Swansea failed to make their numerical advantage count.

A last minute penalty from Barkley ended the scoring and a delighted Bath side could celebrate their qualification into the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup.