Bath coach John Connolly praised his side after the brave 23-17 Heineken Cup win at Bourgoin.

The injury-ravaged Zurich Premiership side went into the meaningless Pool Two match with only 21 fit players but showed grit to hold on to the lead after being in front 16-3 at half-time.

"I'm absolutely delighted with the guys' effort," said Connolly.

"We had a makeshift pack against a strong Bourgoin side. They were very strong in the last third of the match.

"We showed we have strength in depth in our squad, and the pack without most of our first-team regulars dominated the set-pieces in the first half. That set us up for a good win.

"Michael Lipman took the first-half try very well, and the pack drove Rob Fidler over for the second try.

"Truth be told, we could have had another couple of tries."

Bath's injury woes were so bad Connolly could field only six players on the bench all of them forwards and that nearly cost his team the match towards the end.

"The only downside is that our outside-centre Alex Crockett picked up an ankle injury in the second half but had to finish the match which is probably why we leaked two tries through the middle."

Rob Fidler also scored a try for Bath, Olly Barkley kicking two penalties and two conversions and Chris Malone dropping a goal.