Wasps surge into play-off places with another second-half supershow (From Bucks Free Press)

Wade try secures ninth home win on the trot

5:03pm Sunday 6th January 2013 in Sport By Alan Feldberg

WASPS are back in the top four of the Aviva Premiership for the first time in two years after recording their ninth home win out of nine at Adams Park this season.

The black and golds recovered from a wretched opening half hour to see off Bath thanks to the reliable boot of Stephen Jones and yet another solo score from Christian Wade.
 

Chris Bell raced over late on to add gloss to scoreline that looked beyond them in the first half, but Wasps won't worry about that now.
 

They are back in the play-off places and if they escape lightly from this week's England call-ups they have an outside chance of staying there. It would take a herculean effort and they could argue that they have already over-achieved this season, but now they are learning the art of winning without being at their best Dai Young's team might just have enough to upset the established order.
 

If they can win by 14 points after their start today, then anything is possible because to say Wasps endured a torrid opening quarter would be under-selling it.
 

Two Bath tries either side of a sin-binning for Tom Varndell could and maybe should have spelled the end for the black and golds and their proud home record, but, incredibly, they were still in it by the end of arguably their most careless quarter of the season.
 

Just 25 seconds were on the clock when Nick Abendanon ran past Joe Simpson and Varndell to touch down and after Varndell had gone off for a tip tackle in the seventh minute Michael Claassens went over in the place where the winger would have been defending.
 

Kiwi fly half Stephen Donald converted the second of the two tries and Bath should really have been able to put Wasps away from there.
 

But, despite all the evidence on the pitch, the home side clung in there.
Welsh fly half Stephen Jones prevented Bath from disappearing over the horizon with penalties after four, 21 and 25 minutes, and  Wasps would actually have been in front had he not missed off the tee in the 12th minute and Elliot Daly not pushed a long-range effort just wide with 34 minutes gone.
 

However, after a yellow card for Bath's Dom Day had given a Wasps comeback even more credence, the black and golds finally completed the revival in the final play of the half when Christian Wade announced himself into the match with another breathtaking finish.
 

Centres Chris Bell and Daly made the initial inroads, and when the ball went wide to Wade he slipped out of four tackles to go over.
 

Jones converted and Wasps, having done plenty more wrong than right, reached half time 16-12 ahead.
 

They thought they'd gone further clear after Zak Taulafo wriggled through a pile of bodies with 50 minutes gone.
 

But although the TMO ruled against them that time, the worst was over for Wasps and having somehow escaped from the mire of the first half they set about the business of making it nine Wycombe wins out of nine this season.
 

A second try should have come during a dominant spell when they twice created big overlaps, but Jones' fifth and sixth kicks eased them into a 22-15 lead before Bell finished off the game with Wasps' second score eight minutes from the end.
 

Superb hands from Nick Robinson and Daly's clever chip set it up, and Robinson applied the finishing touches with the conversion.

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