Bath's Matt Banahan crosses for one of his four tries in Saturday's resounding win over Aironi © Getty Images

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Match Pack: Banahan leads Bath to big win

Matches: Bath Rugby 55 - 16 Aironi

Tournaments/Tours: Heineken Cup

Teams: Aironi | Bath Rugby

Grounds: Recreation Ground

Bath boss Steve Meehan was a satisfied man after watching his troops run in eight tries during a 55-16 annihilation of Heineken Cup Pool 4 whipping boys Aironi at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.

Matt Banahan accounted for half of his side's touchdowns, while Tom Biggs and Luke Watson both notched twice as Bath dominated from start to finish, much to the delight of their watching coach.

"There were some cracking tries, the speed in the game, skill execution and the accuracy of it all. The support lines were brilliant," Meehan said.

"We've been saying for a little while that a big performance was just around the corner. Over the last couple of weeks we've had to dog out victories. We played well last weekend without getting all the rewards that we deserved. But today a lot of things came together. We are on an upward trend, which is nice."

Unsurprisingly, Meehan reserved special praise for Banahan, whom he believes is worthy of a berth in England's starting line-up for this year's Six Nations.

"The backs fed him very, very well and there was a very good individual effort where he kicked ahead and chased well. If he continues to play on those lines, he's going to ask a lot of the England selectors," he said.

In spite of the comprehensive nature of their victory, Bath remain third in Pool 4, four points adrift of co-leaders Biarritz and Ulster. Qualification for the last eight is nothing more than a mathematical possibility at this point but they could yet force their way into contention for a place in the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals - provided they defeat Biarritz in Basque country next weekend.

"We'll just go down there and give it everything we've got," Meehan said. "Let's go down and win the match, continue on the upward course. If we see an opportunity, let's take it."

Meanwhile, Aironi coach Rowland Phillips was left bemoaning his side's defensive frailties after another disappointing day at the office.

"We conceded three tries before half-time. It was just too soft, too easy," he said. "We expect Aironi to be better than that - but in other respects, as a group, it's been really positive. It just took a very strong Bath side to give us a reality check."